Finding Our Destinies
by Amynic
Summary: It has been a well known fact that old habits die hard. As the gang continues to go about their regular routines, a blast from their FUTURE puts them up to the test to redefine their fate. Join Sonic, Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, and the others as they take on the challenges and defy their destinies. Based on knowledge from the games with a dash of my creativity. (Contains 4 FC's)
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! Glad you guys took an interest in reading this! ^^ This is my first fanfic that involved fan characters, so I'm actually trying out something new here that I actually have BIG plans for. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did writing it, and I look forward to your thoughts and even some follows and favorites! :)

Enjoy! ^^

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><p>Location: Base 0104<p>

Year: Unknown

Silver and Blaze were running for their lives as large metal doors began to close down every room inside the base. The whole base was a minute and half away from self-destructing. Silver possessed the yellow and light blue chaos emeralds in his hands as Blaze possessed the red and purple. They were surrounded by falling building parts and loud alarms going off and red lights flashing among every corner.

"Guys wait for me!" called out a third party member. Silver looked back as a purple hedgehog came running behind them. "I found another chaos emerald! Whoooaaa!" He suddenly tripped over a large metal part of what used to belong to part of the wall.

"Oh come on we don't have time for this!" Blaze called out as she and Silver ran back to aid the hedgehog. Silver pulled him up.

"Here," the purple hedgehog said. "I found it buried under some rubble." The building began to shake some more, and at that moment a large part of the ceiling began to collapse.

"Silver look out!" Blaze yelled as she pushed both him and the hedgehog out of the way. Silver looked up as the metal pieces of the roof became loose. He got to his feet and pulled the purple hedgehog onto his.

"Alright, come on, we gotta get out of here."

They were running down the long hallway until they found themselves trapped at a dead end. Silver tried using his telekinesis to break down the door, but not even a dent could be made.

"We're stuck! What do we do?!" He asked. Blaze thought for a moment before looking at the chaos emeralds.

"We use chaos control to get us out of here. Come on! All together!" Silver held up his emeralds with Blaze and the purple hedgehog. They all shut their eyes.

"Chaos control!"

After a large flash of light, the three disappeared, and it was at that moment the base burst into flames and collapsed.

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><p>Location: Station Square<p>

Year: 202X

The three found themselves on the street. The town was eerily deserted and quiet. The sky was a dreary blue, a sign that a storm was on its way.

"Where are we?" Blaze asked as she brushed off her clothes. Silver shrugged.

"I don't know," he said. "I think we traveled into the further future, but it couldn't have been far. The city doesn't look any different."

"Look!" the purple hedgehog pointed to a window where several TV's were broadcasting a news update. The three ran to the window as they listened to what the reporter was saying.

"It is a tragedy to what has become of our beloved hero Sonic the Hedgehog. After the battle that took place at Base 0104, the base self-destructed into a flame. As fire trucks, ambulances, police, and GUN arrived at the scene, they made a startling discovery as they found both Dr. Eggman and Sonic the Hedgehog terribly bruised up and burned. They were officially pronounced dead.

Officials searched for any survivors, but none were found. They found two more bodies' buried under the rubble, one belonging to one member of the Chaotix Detective Agency identified to be Espio the Chameleon. The second belonged to a pink hedgehog identified as Amy Rose."

"No..." said the purple hedgehog under his breath. It was just then Knuckles was on the camera, wiping away a tear falling from his left eye.

"It's a terrible thing to happen. We've been in battle for so long and never faced any downfall to defeat. It's a harsh reality to face that although you have a hero protecting the people, it in no way means they are invincible." Tails was then put up on the screen. His eyes were red as if he had been crying a while.

"Sonic was my best friend. We've been through everything together and now he's gone. Not even the power of the chaos emeralds could bring him back." The screen cut back to the reporter.

"Officials continued searching the area for the missing emeralds but only two have been recovered from the incident. The whereabouts of the remaining five are unknown. If you have any information about these emeralds you are asked to call Station Square police right away." She wiped away a falling tear.

"You never really know what you have until it's gone. May our heroes rest in peace. This is Scarlet Garcia reporting from Base 0104 without our heroes, with SSTV News."

The purple hedgehog fell to his knees as he held his head in fear. "This can't be happening," he said. Silver and Blaze stared at him, unable to find words to comfort him. The hedgehog got up and swung his fist at Silver, but Silver was quick enough to dodge it. "This is your damn fault!"

"My fault?! You were the one that ran away! I specifically told you to stay with Shadow and like the naive little child you are you disobeyed me! You are the real murderer not me!"

"SILVER!" Blaze yelled as she grabbed the crying purple hedgehog. "This is nobody's fault!" The hedgehog broke away from the cat's grasp crying and shivering hysterically.

"I didn't even belong here. You guys forced me on this trip and look what happened..." Blaze kneeled down and put her arms around him.

"We needed you. You were the only one that could still do chaos control. If it wasn't for you being with us, our bodies would be there too. You and Silver had enough power to get us out of there. It was because of you that we managed to walk out of there with five chaos emeralds instead of four."

"What's gonna happen to me now? What am I gonna do from here?" he said sobbing. Blaze stood up and looked at the two hedgehogs.

"I'll tell you what we're gonna do," She said. Silver looked at her and crossed his arms. "We're going back."

"The hell?" Silver asked. "We are?" asked the hedgehog. Silver let out a chuckle.

"So let me get this straight. We use time travel to stop a bad future from happening, and to fix it we are going to use more time travel? Blaze you can't be serious."

"The only way to fix the timeline is to stop this where it started. We have to try. We know how it ends. We need to go back and change the past or we're all doomed to suffer the same fate as Sonic. What's gonna happen when they find us Silver? Our only escape is to go back to the past and stop all of this from happening."

"Do you even hear yourself? If we travel back and mess up the timeline we face a greater chance of ceasing to exist!" Silver yelled. Blaze looked at the purple hedgehog before looking at the emeralds she held in her hands.

"Then that is a risk I am willing to take." She pulled the crying hedgehog to his feet.

"What?" Silver's eyes widened as his angry voice transitioned to a sad tone. "But...but Blaze!" Blaze looked back at him.

"I'm going with or without you. If we don't take this chance we will never escape our fate. This is our only option." Silver looked at the emeralds he possessed before letting out a sigh.

"Okay Blaze. For you and for him, I'll do it." He walked over to them. "Ready?" They both nodded their heads as they closed their eyes. All together they held the emeralds in the air.

"Chaos Control!" In a flash of light, they all disappeared. They abandoned a future they failed to prevent, and traveled back to save themselves and their lost heroes.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Reviews appreciated! :)<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

Continuing with Chapter 2! :3

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><p>Location: Green Hill<p>

Year: 2014

"Sonic help me!" Amy cried as Eggman's robot squeezed her in its hand. Eggman laughed at her desperate struggle for help.

"Keep screaming my dear," He said with a grin. "Your Sonic is sure to come."

"Amy!"

The two turned to find Sonic heading their way. Eggman smiled. "It's about time you showed up! Eggbot Fire!"

The robot held out its hand as it fired several missiles towards the blue hedgehog. The blue blur grinned as he jumped onto each missile and jumped on top of the robot's arm where Amy was held captive. He stuck out his tongue as he mocked it, and it was then the robot used its other arm and pounded it on the arm Sonic was on, causing both arms to break.

Sonic was in the air and he turned into a speeding ball of spikes as he tore right through the machine and caused it to explode. Eggman was sent flying in his eggmobile.

"You heinous hedgehog!" He yelled before disappearing high in the air. Sonic chuckled.

"Nice try Eggman! I can't wait to play with your toys next time!" He turned around and held his hand out to Amy, whom had been on her knees after she fell. "You okay Amy?" he asked with a smile. He pulled her up to her feet as she brushed off her dress. She then looked at him angrily.

"Why do you always do that?!" She yelled. Sonic had a sweat drop form on the side of his head as he put his hands out in fear.

"Do what?"

"You always just dive right into Eggman and I end up getting hurt or sent flying somewhere!" Sonic frowned as he looked at his feet.

"Gosh...I'm sorry Amy. You know I never want to hurt you." Amy looked down as if she was about to cry.

"I don't get you Sonic. You tell me you care about me but I go to at least hug you and you end up running away. I'm convinced you just don't care at all." Tears began to flow from her eyes. Sonic stared, unsure of how to respond. He felt bad, but he was never good at responding to these kinds of situations with her.

"You run away from me, and then you abandon me! The only thing you haven't done is tell me you don't care about me! If you wanted me gone so badly you should've just said it!" She started to sob.

"Amy..." Sonic never saw Amy react this way to him. He's witnessed her cry, but never in the sense of anger. It was then Amy just pushed him aside and ran away crying. He watched her as she fled from the scene. He sat down and sighed as he looked out towards the field.

_"I've never seen Amy so upset at me. I go to save her expecting the old death hugs and then this happens. Aww Amy, I'm so sorry..."_

Back at Station Square in an ally way, a flash of light appeared as a purple hedgehog fell flat on his face.

"Ouch!" He rubbed his head as he looked around. "Silver? Blaze?" He stood up as he brushed off his fur and his light brown combat boots. "I guess we got separated." He walked out of the ally way onto the sidewalk.

"I gotta find them. I don't know exactly what to do from here." He observed his surroundings. There were a lot of cars driving by and many people walking on the sidewalks. He began walking before stopping in his tracks when he heard a man yelling, "Hot dogs! Come and get your hot dogs here!"

"Hot dogs?!" He ran over to the stand and pulled out some money. "I'll take two please! Do you have any chili?" The man chuckled as he put two hot dogs on hot dog buns. "You betcha! Anything else?"

"Onions please!" The hedgehog said happily. The man handed him the hot dogs as the hedgehog nearly shoved one of them in his mouth. He walked away, his face covered with chili and careless about the stares he was getting from people.

"Oh man these are amazing!" He shoved the second one in his mouth as he walked over to a trash can to throw away the napkins. He wiped his face off before pounding his chest to let out a large burp. He continued to walk down the street and observe.

"Everyone is so happy here. I can't remember a time in my life when people would just say hi to one another on the streets." He stopped when he heard someone sobbing just ahead of him. He quickly ran pass the people as he spotted a pink hedgehog sitting at a table with an umbrella over it.

"Oh no..." he said as he motioned over to her. He got on one knee as he poked her arm. Amy wiped her eyes before looking at him.

"Why so sad beautiful lady?"

"Sonic?" she asked. The hedgehog was purple and resembled Sonic nearly with all features, except his quills were slightly lower on his head and his eyes were more of a jade green. He had bangs brushed to the side of his left eye. The sight kind of scared her.

"You...look like Sonic..." she said as she stared hard at him. "Who are you?" The hedgehog chuckled as he stood up.

"I'm sorry," he said with a grin. "My name is Chase. I couldn't help noticing you so sad. Do you wish to speak of what troubles such a beautiful lady like yourself?" Amy blushed, unsure of how to react. Chase pulled a seat beside her.

"Well...there is this guy named Sonic, and I love him so much but he always finds a way to hurt me, whether it's being rough with Eggman as he holds me captive or simply just running away from me. I don't know what to do anymore. I'm tempted to just give up," she said, tears beginning to form again.

"No!" Chase said as he took her hand into his. "You love this Sonic don't you? Your heart belongs to him does it not? I'm sure he cares a lot about you. He's probably just afraid to say anything. Don't give up hope miss." Amy looked into his eyes. There was something about them that made her attracted to him in some funny way.

"Love will find a way. It always does. Does a heart's curves not part and meet at the end? They separate through the curves and meet at its corner, completing its lovely shape. A flower cannot grow without a little rain. You may be sad, but the best has yet to come as the flower shall blossom and grow into something beautiful." Amy smiled.

"Wow," she said. "You really have a way with words." Chase smiled.

"Believe me, I have learned from the best." He wiped away her last tear before standing up.

"Wait!" she said. "Please don't go..." Chase gave her a reassuring smile. It was exactly like the smiles Sonic would give her.

"Don't worry," He told her. "I won't leave you." Amy stood up and the two started walking together.

"By the way, my name is Amy, Amy Rose." Chase grinned.

"I know who you are," He said. She looked at him rather confused.

"How do you know?"

"Oh uh, you know. I've heard about you on the news before when Dr. Eggman would capture you and Sonic would save you. I know how much you adore that Sonic of yours. I could tell just by looking at you. He's a lucky guy." Amy smiled as she walked beside Chase. She felt a lot better around him, and usually she only felt this way whenever she was around Sonic. But this wasn't Sonic. This was someone new.

"So where are you off to Chase? Do you have plans to go anywhere?" Chase scratched his head as he thought it over.

"Um..." He thought of the incident that took place from where he had time traveled from, but he had already arrived in the past and found Amy. _"I guess just by finding her I can watch over her and protect her so she doesn't get into any more trouble."_He thought. "No not really. Do you know some place you wanna go?"

"Twinkle Park isn't far from here. Have you ever been there?" She asked. Chase didn't answer. He remembered Twinkle Park as a child. He wasn't too grown up, as he was only a year and a half older than Amy in this time. He looked at her before responding, "No, I haven't. Show me." Amy then took his hand.

"Oh you'll love it! I've always wanted to go with Sonic, but since he's gone we can go together! You'll love it!"

"Wait what do you mean gone? Whoa!" Amy began running as she held his hand and headed in the direction of the park. He wanted to make Amy happy as well as protect her, yet the incident from the future continued to repeat in his mind. He hoped that Amy's cheerfulness and smile could get his mind off of everything, but he also feared some of the good memories he had, especially when they were on their way to Twinkle Park.

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><p>So now we know who the purple hedgehog is! If you guys are interested, I have a link on my profile to Deviantart. I made a picture of him a while ago. :) Hope you guys liked it. <strong>Reviews appreciated!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks guys. :)

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><p>Sonic was at Tails' workshop the whole time. Tails had been working on the X-Tornado, whereas Sonic sat on top of the wing explaining to him what happened.<p>

"And then she just ran away crying. I mean you'd think I'd get a thank you considering I save her all the time. I'm so used to her running towards me, not away from me. I never saw her so upset," Sonic explained. He looked down at the floor where the twin tailed orange fox had been laying. He was under the plane. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Yeah yeah, can you hand me the wrench?" the fox asked. Sonic became aggravated.

"Tails!" He yelled. "This is serious!" He handed him the wrench from the toolbox. Tails slid himself out from underneath the Tornado completely smothered in dirt.

"Well did you bother telling her how you feel maybe?" He asked. Sonic sighed.

"I felt so weak at the time; I wasn't able to find my words. I don't even know how I feel. All I know was that I felt like such a jerk to her. I'm supposed to be the hero, not the bad guy."

"Uh huh," Tails said as he continued his work.

"I never would've thought I would hurt her more than I would save her. I don't know what to tell her. She wants the truth and I don't even know what the truth is." Tails covered the part of the Tornado he was working on before pulling out from underneath and standing on his feet. He put his tools on a table and looked at Sonic.

"You wanna know what I think Sonic?" He asked.

"What?"

"I think you do have romantic feelings for her," He said. Sonic blushed, but stood quiet as he listened to his twin tailed best friend. "I think all this time you really liked her, but shied out of ever saying so. I mean, come on now, I highly doubt that the full reason you like to run is to find joy in creating adventures. I honestly think the second reason to why you run away is because you can't find the words or the guts to face situations that don't involve physicality."

"That...that can't be it. If I can face life threatening battles with Eggman I certainly can face situations in telling someone how I feel," Sonic said softly.

"So why don't you tell Amy, Sonic?!" Tails shouted. Sonic's eyes began to widen a bit. Tails never shouted out him before.

"I'm not an idiot Sonic. I know EXACTLY how you feel about her. Face it, you like her and you very well know it, but for some reason you refuse to face that reality. Why can't you face it Sonic? Why do you run away from her when it comes time to tell her the truth? You're never afraid to face a death battle but you shake in your shoes when it comes to telling someone how you feel. That's messed up even for you."

"But Amy knows I care about her. If I didn't I would never consider her as my friend," Sonic said. For some reason, he felt like he was being ripped apart inside. He could feel a knot forming in his stomach and became uncomfortable.

"Does she know Sonic? Does she REALLY know that?" Sonic closed his eyes as he stood up and walked towards the door.

"I need to go." He said.

"See? There you are, doing it again! You're afraid of your own feelings Sonic! If you don't say something soon you'll lose her forever don't you understand that? You have a girl that worships the ground you walk upon and you lead her on to believe that she stands a chance with you. That's not right Sonic, and you of all people know that." Sonic's eyes began to water, but he didn't let Tails see him cry.

"You came to me for advice Sonic. You had the incident of what happened at Green Hill and you continued to talk about how bad you felt and how you never saw Amy so hurt before. You talked about that the entire time I was working on the Tornado. That only means that you keep her on your mind Sonic. You DO think of her. You DO care about her. Face it Hero, you DO love her, but you are too afraid to face it."

"Shut up!" Sonic yelled as he threw open the door and ran off. Tails wasn't offended by his outburst. Sonic's reaction only proved Tails was right about the whole situation. He specialized in taking pieces apart and putting them back together and he used his technique to his advantage to get Sonic to face reality.

_"Sonic, I'm sorry to have to hurt you this way, but you needed a hit to the head. You can't escape how you feel anymore. It is time to stop running away and face reality. Running and fighting has been your life, but now it is time to make room for the things that really matter. You're not getting any younger. You are fated to slow down either by finding love, or growing old by yourself, and I know for certain you wouldn't handle being alone. I rather see you happy than miserable. I know I broke you, but I did it for your own wellbeing. It's time to face the situation we all have wanted you to face for so long: Tell her you love her."_

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><p>Thanks for reading. <strong>Reviews appreciated!<strong> :)


	4. Chapter 4

Back to Chase and Amy. :D

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><p>Amy and Chase had just gotten off a rollercoaster. They were both laughing and having a great time since arriving.<p>

"What a rush!" Chase said as he put his hand over his chest. "My heart is beating so fast right now." Amy giggled. They had been walking by the food court. Amy inhaled the air as she smelled the scent of freshly cooked food surrounding them.

"Are you hungry?" she asked. Chase looked at her with a nod.

"Sure am," He said as he inhaled as well. "I hope they have chili dogs here." Amy looked at him. The thought of chili dogs only made her think of Sonic, but she refused to say anything in hopes Chase would change the subject.

The two went up to the clerk and ordered the food they wanted. Amy ordered a sandwich and a Chaos Soda, while Chase pigged out and ordered three chili dogs topped with onions and a soda. After paying, they walked over to a table and began eating. Amy couldn't help but stare at the lack of control Chase had when he chowed down.

"You sure do love chili dogs don't you?" She asked with a half-smile. Chase's mouth was full. He swallowed and sipped his soda before looking at her. He had some chili on the side of his cheek.

"You bet. But these are nothing compared to the chili dogs my mom makes. I love when I would come home on Chili Dog Tuesday and she would have a whole plate of chili dogs set on the table for me. Dad and I just go crazy." He took another sip of his chaos soda. Amy pointed out the chili on his cheek.

"You got a little uh..." She took a napkin and softly cleaned his cheek. Chase didn't say anything. He felt almost as if his heart had skipped a beat when she did that. He cleared his throat as he broke away from her gaze.

"Sorry," he said. He threw away his plate and took his soda. Amy followed behind him as she threw away her sandwich wrapper. They both were quiet for about a minute or two as they walked side by side together. Although no words were said, a lot of thoughts ran through one another's minds.

_"He reminds me so much of Sonic,"_ Amy thought. _"He's so nice and doesn't mind my company. I wonder how he feels about me. I know we just met, but he called me beautiful and he doesn't run away. It's like he wants to be around me."_

_"I don't know if I can handle this,"_Chase thought. _"I feel like this is taking a huge toll on me regardless if this was the right thing to do or not. We wanted to stop a bad future from happening, but I feel like I'm weakening, especially when I'm around her. I don't want to let my guard down but since the moment we arrived here I feel like that's all I've been doing. I want to protect her, but if this keeps up I'm only gonna lose her and there's nothing that I could do to fix it again."_Chase put his hands behind his back as he sighed.

"So," he said as he broke the silence. "Where do you wanna go next?" They were walking by the water park, which immediately caught Chase's attention. He nearly felt sick to his stomach at the sight of the lazy river.

"Why don't we rest a bit and ride some of the water rides next?" she suggested, but she had noticed Chase standing by the black metal fence by the lazy river. He was staring really hard at it.

"You wanna go on the lazy river?" She asked. Chase didn't say anything. He was experiencing a sense of deja vu as he closed his eyes and had a flashback of his childhood memory.

A little Chase, about six years old, was on a mini tube beside his father. The father smiled as he held the handle of the tube in which his son laid upon.

_"We can face it together little buddy. Don't leave daddy now, okay?"_He said. Chase smiled.

_"I won't daddy!" __He said in a babyish voice._There were slides on the lazy river as well as sprinklers and waterfalls. They shivered as they both went under one together. They then chuckled.

_"You okay little buddy?"_His father asked as he smiled at his son. Chase nodded.

_"Uh huh!"_He said. They were floating in their tubes side by side together until they floated over a large rush of water from beneath them that ended up separating them. They were only one large slide away to the end of the ride.

_"Daddy!"_Chase called out as his father lost his grip. His dad had already gone down the slide and got off his tube. The water was about three feet high, so he was able to stand up.

_"Don't worry buddy, you'll be safe. Daddy's right here with mommy!"_ The little Chase made it to the slide, but as he went down and made a splash, the tube had flipped over, causing Chase to fall into the water and struggle to the surface. His father quickly ran to bring him back up as his son coughed. He held him tightly in his arms.

_"Chase! Chase little buddy you okay?"_He asked as he patted his son's back. Chase hugged his dad once he coughed up the water. He didn't know how to swim.

_"Daddy, I don't like the water..."_He said in a babyish voice. Chase's flashback ended, and at that moment he opened his eyes and continued to stare.

"Are you okay Chase?" Amy asked. Chase looked at her before nodding his head. He felt sick to his stomach, but chose to fight off his feelings. He didn't want to ruin Amy's day any more than what Sonic had already did.

"Yeah I'm fine," He told her. He let out a sigh and walked beside her again. They were heading in the direction towards the water park's "Atlantis" theme.

"I'm going to head to the surf shack to buy a bathing suit so we can go on the water rides and swim. By the time I'm done we shouldn't feel too sick when we hit the water. Is that okay?" Amy asked him. Chase nodded.

"Yeah. You go on ahead and I'll meet you by that temple over there. I need to rest my stomach for a bit." Amy smiled as she walked over to the store. Chase sat on top of a boulder beside the temple as he let out a deep sigh.

"Silver...Blaze...where are you guys? I don't know how much more of this I can handle. Please find me soon, please..." He put his hand over his chest. He felt pain within his heart and tightness forming inside. He was breathing heavily as his flashbacks continued to haunt him.

About a couple minutes later, Amy came back wearing a simple red two piece bathing suit. She slightly blushed when she stood in front of Chase. "So uh...what do you think?" she asked. Chase felt awkward, unsure of how to answer.

"It um...looks great. So what do we do first?" He asked, hoping to get off the subject as quickly as he could. Amy thought for a moment before pointing at a large water slide that led to the Atlantis River.

"There! I heard that they have sea creatures in the water that you can swim with!" She said smiling.

"Wait what?" Before Chase could say another word, Amy took his hand and ran in the direction of the water slide. They climbed the stone steps to the top. Amy was first to go down, but the life guard made her wait until the person before her had swam away from the slide as part of their safety rules.

"Amy are you sure about this?" Chase asked nervously. Amy smiled when the life guard told her to go.

"Of course!" She pushed herself down the slide. "See you at the bottom!" Chase could feel his heart beat increase again. He gulped as he sat at the very top of the slide. He could see Amy swimming around at the bottom, motioning for him to go down.

"Go," The life guard told him, and at that moment, Chase pushed himself off as he screamed on the way down. He hit the water and opened his eyes as he saw fish swimming around. He struggled to get to the top for air and rushed to get out of the pool. When he pulled himself out, he continuously started coughing and shivering. He sat at the edge, holding his legs as he rested his head on his knees. Amy swam to him.

"What's wrong Chase?" she asked. "Are you afraid of fish?" Chase shook his head as he turned to look at her.

"No it's not the fish. It's the water." He told her. Amy frowned. Sonic also hated water and would never consider facing his fear against it. She put her hands on the edge as she rested her head on top of them, staring at Chase.

"Why didn't you tell me? I wouldn't have made you come on the ride if you said anything." Chase wiped his left eye, preventing a tear to fall as he fought the urge to cry.

"I just want to make you happy Amy..." He said sadly. Amy felt her heart rate increase, but it wasn't out of fear. She felt touched and almost as if she was loved. She pulled herself out of the water and hugged him.

"You do make me happy Chase. You've really changed my whole day around, and I'm glad we met." She closed her eyes as she hugged him.

_"To think I wasted all of my time chasing Sonic when he didn't even care about me when I could have opened my eyes and found someone else. Chase is so perfect and so sweet and sensitive. I think from now on I'm going to stick with him than Sonic. At least Chase shows affection and treats me right, whereas Sonic just hurts me all the time."_Amy pulled away as she looked at Chase.

"Come on," She said. "How about we enjoy the rest of our time at the park? I hate to see you struggle at the sight of the water." She pulled Chase to his feet.

"Okay," He said nodding. They walked away together towards the direction of the park, eventually forgetting the events that occurred and resuming with the rest of the fun.

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><p>I'm hoping to draw out some of the scenes in the fanfic because I think some are just way too cute. We'll see. Anyway, thanks for reading. :)<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Location: Frog Forest

Year: 2014

"Gah!" Silver fell from the air and hit the swampy waters of the Frog Forest. The scent of the forest was revolting to his nose.

"Agh, eww!" He complained. "This is gross!" He quickly swam to the end and walked out. He shook off the water and made an attempt to wipe off the dirt, but instead the dirt spread on his fur. He growled and using his telekinesis, threw a boulder at a tree and knocked it over. He was never good at controlling his anger.

"I was afraid of this," He said. "We got separated. Just my luck." He kicked a rock and walked through the trees. You could hear the sounds of the flickies chirping and frogs croaking. The air was humid and sticky as he walked on the trail.

"Ugh where do I find Blaze and Chase now?" He thought for a moment as he took out his chaos emeralds. "With any luck, they might be at Station Square looking for Sonic." He felt something jump on top of his head and saw a small green frog. He violently shook his head in hopes the frog would go away.

"Eww get off!" He yelled, but the frog sat there, not at all bothered by the disgust of the white hedgehog. Silver growled as he grabbed it and threw it somewhere in trees. You could hear was a long croak fading away as the frog disappeared.

"Stupid frog," he mumbled as he fixed his fur and flew to the very top of the trees. "Well I guess it'll be easier to locate this place from the sky." He then shot through the air in search for the city.

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><p>Location: Seaside Beach<p>

Year: 2014

Blaze stood on the boardwalk as she looked up at the bright blue sky. The sun was shining and there were fluffy white clouds flowing by. She took the time to smell the scent of the ocean and let out a sigh.

"It's so beautiful here," she said. She closed her eyes as she listened to the ocean waves and the sounds of dolphins from afar. She knew she had to find Silver and Chase, but decided to take away her stress through meditating. She sat down with her legs crossed and did so. She couldn't help but smile as she found her inner peace.

When she was finished meditating, she then decided to take a walk along the shore, but being exposed to the sun made her rather sleepy, and it wasn't long before she lie herself on the sand and fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Location: Station Square<p>

Year: 2014

A few hours later the sun was beginning to set, and Amy and Chase had just left the park. They were laughing as they talked about all the things they did together. Chase had won her a teddy bear at a game of ring toss, and Amy bought him glow sticks and bent them into a necklace and three bracelets.

"I'm glad we spent some time together Chase," Amy said smiling as she held her teddy bear tightly to her chest. Chase chuckled.

"Me too," he told her. "We should do it again sometime, only this time no water rides." He was spinning one of his bracelets around his finger before looking up at the sky. He then let out a sigh. The sky was a mix of reds, oranges, and slight pinks and purples.

"It's a real nice sunset here isn't it?" He pointed out. Amy looked up and nodded before looking at Chase.

"It is," she said. "Would you like to watch it until it gets dark? I won't mind, unless you have somewhere to be." Chase thought for a moment.

"Actually," he said as he put his hand behind his head and to scratch his ear. "I do have to go, but I first want to get you home safe and sound." He looked back at her. "I don't trust anyone during the night, and someone as pretty as you shouldn't wander back home all by herself with the amount of wackos that exist." Amy blushed as his protective instincts stood out.

"Okay," she said as she closed her eyes and smiled. They continued to walk through the city until they reached the lake in which Amy resided. It had gotten dark by then, and at the moment Chase was tucking Amy into bed.

"Goodnight Amy," he said with a small smile. Amy closed her eyes, but before Chase could leave, she held his hand with a soft grip.

"Thank you for today Chase. I had a wonderful time," she told him. She opened her eyes halfway and frowned a little. "Will I ever see you again?" Chase smiled.

"Believe me," he said. "You'll see me again soon." His tone indicated that he was hiding something, but Amy only took it as a good thing. She smiled and slowly shut her eyes.

"Goodbye Chase," she said softly. "Be careful." Chase kneeled beside her bed as he put an arm around her to hug her. It was a bit of a tight hug, but it was very meaningful. Amy opened one eye as she had noticed Chase's mood suddenly changed. He looked like he was fighting the urge to cry.

"Chase?" she asked. "Are you alright?" He kept his eyes shut and held her a bit longer. He pulled away after a few seconds had passed and stood up on his feet. "What's wrong Chase?"

"I..." Chase sighed and turned around. He walked to the door and placed his and on the knob. "I gotta go. Goodnight Amy."

"Chase!" Amy yelled, but Chase had turned out the light and closed the door and left. She felt like she was about to cry. "Oh Chase...please don't leave me...please..." she got up as she went downstairs to look for him, but by the time she opened her front door, he was already gone.

Chase had already been on the trail back to Station Square. He was walking beside the road with tears flowing from his eyes.

"Come on Chase, pull yourself together!" He said as he put his hands to his head and applied pressure against it. He was panting and eventually fell on his knees and looked up at the full moon.

"Please, please don't let me screw this up! I need help! Please!" He began sobbing. "Don't leave me alone! Please help me find Blaze and Silver so we can fix this! Don't make me do this alone..." he looked down at the ground as his tears fell upon the road.

"I just want to protect her," he said softly. "I don't want to lose her..."

Sonic had escaped into the woods after he abandoned Tails. He walked along a trail as he tried to get his mind off things. Unfortunately, he couldn't stop thinking about what happened.

"He's wrong," Sonic said to himself. "I'm not afraid of reality. I face it every day." He looked up at the stars that flooded the dark sky. He shut his eyes tightly as he stopped in his tracks. "I don't even know what I feel..." He fell on his knees as he fought the urge to cry. That was when suddenly, he heard a deep voice coming from behind the trees.

"I never thought I'd see the day when the hero would stoop so low..."

"Huh?" Sonic looked around. "Who's there?" The voice chuckled rather deviously, but Sonic failed to find out where it was coming from. He stood to his feet and got angry.

"Where are you?! Who is that?!" He yelled as continued looking left from right. You could hear the rustling of leaves from the trees, indicating that the person was closing in on him.

"Come on out you coward!" Sonic challenged. You could hear the person chuckling deviously again.

"Coward huh?" It asked. "That's pretty funny coming from you." Sonic caught the figure jumping from tree to tree as it passed through the light of the moon, but he wasn't able to make out who it was. All that he could see was a shadowy figure.

It was at that moment Sonic looked up and saw the figure standing on a branch with its arms crossed.

"Why don't you come down here and call me a coward to my face then? Come on! I dare ya!" Sonic challenged. The voice laughed again.

"A dare?" it asked. "Sounds like you're asking to get a boot to the ass aren't you hedgehog?"

"Alright that's it I'm gonna-" Before Sonic could say another word, the shadowy figure had kicked him into a tree. Sonic fell to his knees after hitting his head. He looked up as the figure made its way over to him. His eyes widened as the moonlight revealed the figure's true identity.

"You!" Sonic said in shock, before being grabbed by his skin and held up against the tree. The figure laughed.

"For someone so fast, you're pretty slow..."

* * *

><p>Oooh...who do you guys think this guy is? :o<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

Continuing! :3

* * *

><p>Sonic opened an eye as he struggled to free himself. "Shadow what's the matter with you?!" He yelled. Shadow grinned as he dropped the hedgehog down on his knees. Sonic was coughing.<p>

"What's the matter Sonic? Aren't you going to fight back?" Shadow teased as he kicked some dirt into Sonic's face. "Come on Sonic, get up and fight. This isn't a fantasy Sonic, this is reality. Can't you take a hit from it?" Sonic immediately tackled Shadow as the two rolled over throwing punches at one another.

"Shut up!" Sonic yelled as he tried hitting Shadow. "Who told you?! Tell me who told you! You know nothing!" Shadow threw him off and slammed him into a tree. Sonic was bruised and had wounds on his arms, legs, and head, some even beginning to bleed.

"I don't need anyone to tell me that you live in a fantasy life Sonic when I very well was able to figure you out from day one," Shadow said as he closed in on him. He picked Sonic up by his head and hit his face to irritate him. "Is this a fantasy Sonic? Are you dreaming this? Come on Sonic. Wake up and face the reality right in front of you. Come on Sonic, get up and fight like the real hero you are."

"Stop it!" Sonic shoved Shadow before getting on his feet and throwing as many punches as he could. Shadow easily dodged every one as he smiled deviously at Sonic's attempts to hurt him.

"Is that the best you can do?" Shadow teased. "I'm sure you're faster than that. Where did all of your strength go Sonic? Surely if you find it soon enough you may stand a chance at hitting me."

Sonic screamed as he then tried kicking Shadow's face in. He had Shadow corned at a tree, but Shadow had jumped into the air. Sonic jumped as he made an attempt to kick him, but Shadow grabbed his ankles and threw him down to the ground. Shadow kneeled beside him. He looked down at the face of the coughing blue hedgehog.

"Is this real enough for you Sonic? Come on hero; try escaping your reality now!" Sonic opened one eye before pinning Shadow on the ground. Shadow was a tad surprised, but not at all impressed. They met eye to eye, Sonic being angry and Shadow very well pleased.

"You don't know anything Shadow," Sonic said, his voice starting to go due to the beating. "I live in reality as I can very well face it."

"Then hit me Sonic," Shadow said as he escaped Sonic's grasp and back flipped back onto his feet. "I'm your reality Sonic. Come on and fight me. There's no escape for you now Sonic. Prove to me that you aren't as weak as you make yourself out to be. Find the guts to face reality!" Sonic stood up as he got into his fighting stance.

"You constantly under estimate me Shadow," Sonic said. "You don't for one second believe that I can take you down." He charged over as he gripped his fist and threw a punch to Shadow, but he missed when Shadow kicked him in the head.

"You expect me to believe that you can beat me with how pathetic your fighting skills are? You were never this weak before Sonic. I had faith in you to believe you can handle every challenge that you came to face, until I realized you lacked the guts in facing life's _real_battles." He went to kick Sonic's face in again, but Sonic grabbed his leg before he could and kicked Shadow into a tree. Shadow smiled as he stood up on his feet.

"Not bad, but it'll take a little more than that to impress me," he said. "Perhaps I should make this easier on you by kicking your ass with my hands tied behind my back. Or would that still be too hard for you to face? Would you like me blindfolded too?" His constant mocking towards Sonic only angered him more. As Sonic continued to fight, his fur transitioned from blue to a dark blue, indicating that he was losing all self-control he had.

"Stop under estimating me Shadow," Sonic said grinding his teeth. "I'm warning you." Shadow laughed.

"I never thought you'd stoop so low Sonic. No wonder Amy left you."

Sonic screamed as he charged into Shadow and punched him several times in the face. He threw Shadow into the air as he jumped up, grabbed his ankles, got on top of his back and shot him straight into the ground.

Shadow sat up to rub his head, but the second he opened his eyes, Sonic grabbed him by his fur and continuously hit his head onto the ground. He wasn't himself anymore. He became Dark Sonic. Shadow struggled as he tried getting Sonic's hands off him.

"Get…off..." Shadow said as he tried to breathe and escape. Sonic lifted Shadow up by his chest hair.

"You leave Amy out of this," He said evilly. "You bring her into this again and I'll kill you." Shadow began to fade away, and at that point Sonic came back to his senses and got off him. He fell onto his back and backed away, completely unaware of what his anger did to him.

"Shadow!" he said as looked at the badly beaten hedgehog. Shadow had wounds all over him and was bleeding through his mouth. Sonic crawled over as he tried to wake him up.

"Shadow, Shadow I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" he tried to shake him to see if he was awake. He leaned his head on his chest to check for a heartbeat. He took a deep breath, as his last option was CPR, but as he moved in, the black hedgehog awoke and pushed him away.

"Get away from me you crazy bastard!" He yelled. He started to cough as he managed to find the strength to sit up. Sonic was at the point of crying.

"Shadow I am so sorry," he said. "I don't know what came over me." He put his hands on his head as he began to panic. "What is WRONG with me?!"

"Take it easy..." Shadow told him as he saw Sonic freaking out. "I'm fine dammit. I'm fine." Sonic was still panting and shaking, a phase Shadow had never witnessed him do before.

"I'm a monster," Sonic said under his breath. "I hurt people..."

"Sonic..." Shadow said as he was rubbing his head, but Sonic continued to react.

"I hurt Amy..."

"Sonic..." Shadow said again.

"I almost killed Shadow...I'm evil!"

"SONIC!" Shadow grabbed the hedgehog and smacked him across the face. "Get ahold of yourself god dammit! Knock it off!" It was at that moment Sonic's eyes began to tear up.

"You are NOT evil, do you understand me?! Calm down!" He put his hands on Sonic's shoulders as he looked him in the eyes. "I started this fight on purpose to teach you a lesson. I know about the girl, and I very well know about what you are feeling." Sonic stayed silent as tears fell from his eyes.

"You think it was easy for me when I had to face the fact that Maria was gone forever? It was the toughest thing I could ever deal with! For Christ sakes I almost destroyed the damn planet because I believed avenging her would be the right thing to do, and in the end, I came to my senses and realized what she wanted me to do. I wanted so desperately to get revenge on what you people took away from me, but instead I faced reality that revenge would NEVER bring her back." Sonic noticed Shadow's eyes beginning to water, but Shadow did all he could to prevent himself from crying.

"I was never able to escape my reality the way you managed to escape yours for so long. You don't realize how lucky you are, especially when you have someone willing to spend every second with you as much as she can, but you choose to run away from that and you take that for granted. The girl worships the ground you walk on, but when she goes in for a hug, you leave her in the dust. But at the end of the day, you know deep down you want her.

You love that girl Sonic. I know you do. But you take her for granted. You expect to be the hero and rescue her and get a big hug and a kiss, but when the results turned out differently, it bothered you. You need to learn how to appreciate what you have, because what's gonna happen when she's gone? Then what are you going to do? You are going to think about all the times you abandoned her and it is going to haunt you all of your damn life, and you can't do anything to take that back. Maybe she'll find someone new, or worse, she could suffer the same fate as Maria. That is NOT something you want to happen now is it?" Sonic shook his head.

"No..." he said as he began to cry more. Shadow sighed, his hands still on Sonic's shoulders.

"I don't want you to suffer the same way I did. All I have are a few good memories, but the thing that continues to haunt me today is the thought of seeing that GUN soldier shoot her in front of my eyes, and being sent away a second afterwards. I'm stuck all of my life constantly remembering that image, and I continue to ask myself what could have happened if I didn't let my guard down. I wonder all the time if I didn't take her for granted, that I could have spared her life.

Sonic, you aren't getting any younger and neither is Amy. If you don't do something now, you are going to lose her forever, and you can't do anything to change that. It's time to stop running away from your own feelings. It's time to face reality and slow down for a change. You're a hero, not invincible." Sonic closed his eyes.

"But...I don't know how to tell her, and I don't know to choose between her and my freedom..." Sonic said softly.

"Your freedom? Sonic, you may be free but you aren't free to abandon all of life's challenges. Some things you need to accept. And how can you be so sure that she's just going to tie you down like that if you can't even find the guts to tell her how you feel?" Sonic didn't say anything, but he knew Shadow made a good point.

"You're fated to grow old and die. You are going to slow down eventually and there's nothing you can do to stop that. It's time for you to make some room in your life to spend the time that still remains being happy, and I think we both know what that means." Shadow told him.

"Tell Amy how I feel..." Sonic said softly.

"She won't stop you from being a hero, but if you tell her how you feel now, she will stay there with you the whole way. When you grow older, she will be there to make up the joy you had when you were young, simply by the love she gives you. She'll take care of you, and I'm sure we both agree that that's a lot better than being old and living alone."

"It is," Sonic said. He looked down for a moment and then looked at Shadow. "Thank you."

"I didn't expect to go to the emergency room tonight," Shadow said with a smirk. "But I'm glad to have given you a good wake up call." Shadow stood up and held out his hand and helped Sonic to his feet. They both smiled at each other.

"Okay. I'll tell her tomorrow. I'll do it," Sonic said as he put his hand over a bruise on his left arm. "Need help getting back to the city?" Shadow shook his head.

"I'll be alright," Shadow said. "I think I'm gonna hang out here for a while."

"You sure?" Sonic asked him. Shadow nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "Besides, I need to figure some things out for myself too. Good luck hedgehog."

"You too," Sonic said with a wink and thumbs up. He then sped off into the town. Shadow watched him run off, and once he was out of sight, he limped away onto a trail. He walked and walked until he found himself at the end of the forest. He found a large lake that had an island just ahead of it.


	7. Chapter 7

"What is this place?" He asked himself. He looked around for any sign of a presence, but he could not see anything out of the ordinary. He then let out a sigh and sat down to set up a camp fire using the wood around him. He then looked up at the full moon, losing himself in his thoughts, slowly closed his eyes.

"Maria..." he said to himself. He thought back to the time they talked about visiting Earth, while staring out of the window from Space Colony Ark. He remembered the plans they made about the trip, and smiled at the thought and time put into it. He missed the sweet sound of her voice and the smile of joy she always had on her face.

"You look terrible," said a voice behind him. Shadow opened his eyes and looked up to see a white bat flying over to him. He groaned as his thoughts vanished.

"What do you want Rouge?" he asked resting his elbows on his knees and glaring at the flirtatious bat. She landed right beside him and put her hands on her hips.

"What's the matter? Didn't you miss me?" she asked charmingly.

"No," Shadow said annoyed. Rouge smiled as she sat next to him and put her arms around him.

"Oh come on," she said. "It's been a while since we've last met. Don't you miss the good times we spent together?" Shadow shoved his hand in her face and pushed her away.

"Get off me," he warned. "Don't you have anything better to do than bother me the rest of the night?" Rouge looked up with thought before looking at him.

"Well," she said. "There's something that's been bugging me for a while. I feel like I've lost my touch." Shadow rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure your next 11 o clock appointment will surely find it," He said sarcastically. Rouge groaned, and without Shadow expecting it, she bashed him on the head.

"Gah! What's your problem god dammit?!" Shadow yelled.

"I don't like your attitude!" she hollered. "I only came looking for you because I needed your help, and you have been nothing but rude to me the second I got here!"

"So go away and leave me alone if you don't like it!" Shadow and Rouge met eye to eye, but a few second later, Rouge sighed and backed away.

"What are you even talking to me for? What is it you want now? Haven't you been in enough trouble lately?" Shadow asked her.

"Shadow, I've come to realize that I'm not the person I used to be. And I came to you for help so I can find my place again. Nobody else is willing to help me out, and you're my only hope," She said frowning. Shadow sighed.

"Get to the point. What do you want me to do?" He asked.

"Come on now," Rouge said as she walked around him. "You remember the old me don't cha? The naughty ol' jewel thief I was." Shadow sighed, but kept silent.

"It's been forever since I've last found any treasure. You see," she pulled out an old sheet of paper. "I recently found this map and I tracked the target to that island right over there." She pointed towards the island across the water. "It's a rather large area, but I didn't want to go in alone because I've never been there before. If you can come along with me we can split the treasure fifty fifty. So will you come with me?"

"I have no interest in your treasure," Shadow said to her. "The last thing I need is to be under the radar committing crimes for you. For all I know you're not looking for treasure at all. You're most likely setting me up for a robbery, and I for one don't want to be involved." Rouge flew next to him.

"Come on Shadow, don't you trust me?" she asked. "I'm telling you, this is a _real_ treasure map. It's all ours if you're willing to come along with me and find it. I promise I'll leave you alone once we do." She batted her eyes flirtatiously at him. He sighed, very well annoyed and not at all satisfied.

"Fine," he said, "But only because you'll finally disappear and I can get on with my life." He then walked away, putting a smile of success onto Rouge's face.

"Thank you," she said. She flew beside him as they stared at the island. He looked over at her and then looked down at the water.

"You wanna tell me how you expect me to get across?" He asked. Rouge winked at him.

"I could fly us over, but only if you agree to dinner some time." Shadow closed his eyes and walked right into the water.

"No thanks I rather drown," He said, and finally began to swim across. Rouge crossed her arms and glared at him, but a few seconds later shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh well, you can't blame a girl for trying." She flew across the water to the island and met up with Shadow. A few minutes later, Shadow made it onto the island and walked out of the lake. Rouge covered her nose as he came near.

"Ugh, you smell like a wet hedgehog," She said.

"Coming from you, I consider that a compliment. Now let's go." Rouge's face turned red the more Shadow insulted her, but she forced herself to ignore it to the best of her ability and followed him on the trail.

* * *

><p>Location: Seaside Beach<p>

Year: 2014

"Miss? Are you okay?" Cream asked as she lightly shook Blaze's body to wake her up. Blaze opened an eye and rubbed her head.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine." When she managed to open both of her eyes, she immediately recognized Cream. Cream had been beside her mother and Cheese.

"You were quite passed out for a while weren't you dear?" Vanilla asked. "Do you have a place to stay for the night?" Blaze stared hard at the two rabbits before shaking her head.

"No...not really," She said. Cream helped pull the sleepy cat to her feet.

"Come back and stay with us Miss," Cream said smiling while holding her hand. "We can take good care of you." Vanilla nodded in agreement.

"Yes darling it's freezing out here," she said. "Might I ask your name?"

"B-Blaze." Cream looked up at her. She and Cheese were holding her hands.

"That is a really nice name Miss Blaze. My name is Cream, and this is my little chao Cheese."

"Chao Chao!" Cheese said as he waved his little arm at her.

"And my name is Vanilla," Cream's mother added. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all too," Blaze said with a smile. She looked at Cream and Cheese as they led her to their house across the street from the beach. She couldn't help but find them adorable at their age.

Once they entered the house, Vanilla insisted Blaze to take a seat on the couch as she went into the kitchen to make some tea. Cream and Cheese brought down a blanket and pillow and set up the couch for her.

"I hope you will be comfy here Blaze," Cream said with a smile. Blaze lie her head down on the pillow and shut her eyes.

"It is very comfortable," she said. "Thank you." They sat on the couch across from her as they waited patiently for Vanilla. Eventually she came out with the tea and poured each of them a glass. Blaze sipped hers and let out a sigh of relief.

"This tea is wonderful Vanilla. I appreciate your hospitality for allowing me to stay here for the night," Blaze said smiling.

"Well of course dear," Vanilla said. "We saw you sleeping out there in the cold and it would be awful if we had just left you there. You were pretty tired to have fallen asleep there weren't you?" Blaze nodded.

"Where did you come from?" Cream asked. "Do you usually have a place to stay?"

"Uh, well..." Blaze thought for a moment. "I'm only in town for a short amount of time. I came here to help out a friend of mine, but we got separated and I've been looking for him all over."

"Who may that be?" Vanilla asked.

"His name is Chase. He is a purple hedgehog with green eyes." Blaze answered.

"Oh dear," Vanilla said concerned. "Should we contact the police? They could help find him. It would be awful if something terrible had happened to him."

"No!" Blaze said nervously and loud. "I wouldn't worry so much about him. He knows how to take care of himself and he's probably busy with some work." Blaze hoped they wouldn't ask her anymore questions regarding him.

"Are you sure?" Cream asked. Blaze nodded. The rabbits looked at each other, but decided not to question the subject anymore. They then looked back at Blaze.

"Well alright dear," Vanilla said as she, Cream, and Cheese sat up. "If you need us, we will be right upstairs. It's getting pretty late. Would you like me to leave a light on for you?" Blaze shook her head as she lie back down.

"No thank you," she said. Vanilla smiled as she switched off the lights.

"Sleep tight sweetie." Once Vanilla, Cream, and Cheese went upstairs, Blaze sighed and stared at the full moon from a nearby window.

"Silver...Chase...where could you guys have gone?" She closed her eyes as she thought about Vanilla, Cream, and Cheese finding her on the beach. She then had a flashback to an old childhood memory.

A six year old Blaze had been escorted into a classroom full of children by a brown and cream colored rabbit.

_"Class, we have a new student here to join us," _she said. _"Everyone, this is Blaze. Say hello and make her feel welcome." _Everyone said hi to her, but Blaze being too shy, hid behind her rabbit teacher.

_"Oh sweetie don't be shy, go along now and make some friends." _She gave the kitten a little push, and Blaze walked over to a mutant rabbit and bumble bee.

_"Hi, I'm Honey the Bunnybee. The teacher is my mommy. What's your name?"_ Honey asked. Blaze covered her mouth with her paws.

_"I'm Blaze," _she said. Honey observed the lavender kitten as she noticed her shaking uncontrollably. Blaze then hiccupped a flame, which instantly scared Honey.

_"What was that?"_ She asked. Blaze blushed.

_"I can't control my powers yet," _she said in a babyish voice. Honey frowned as she stood up.

_"You're weird,"_ she said. _"I thought you were a cat, not a dragon. Cats don't breathe fire."_

_"Oh..."_ Blaze looked down as her big hazel eyes began to water. Honey walked away with her dolls, leaving Blaze alone to play by herself. Blaze walked around the classroom as she observed all of the little kids around her, but no one invited her to join in on their activities.

_"Okay everyone, time for recess!"_ The rabbit said as she opened the door and let the children run out to the playground. Blaze covered her mouth with her paw as she walked outside. She first went to go on the swings, but by the time she made it there, they had all been taken. She went over to the merry-go-round, but nobody invited her to join them. She then looked at the jungle gym, but when she saw Honey playing with the other kids on it; she decided not to even try.

She watched as the kids played ball, swing on the swings, play on the jungle gym, whereas she would sit by the fence and stare at the concrete ground.

A red foamed ball rolled over to her as a small white hedgehog came running over. Blaze looked up at him as she held the ball.

_"Sorry,"_ He said in his own babyish voice. He couldn't help but notice her crying. _"Why are you sad?"_

_"Nobody likes me,"_ She said as she wiped her eyes with her paw. The hedgehog smiled at her.

_"I like you,"_ he said, and held out the red foamed ball. _"Come on, let's play. My name is Silver."_

_"I'm Blaze."_ Silver held her hand as he pulled her up on her feet. He smiled as he looked into her big hazel eyes.

_"I can tell we are gonna be best friends,"_ Silver told her. Blaze smiled as Silver led her to the painted 4-Square court, and joined the game with two other kids.

Blaze smiled at the thought of when she first met Silver. She surely missed his company. She turned over on the couch as she looked at a picture of Cream and Cheese in a gold frame on the coffee table.

"I can't believe I met my teacher when she was young," She said, before closing her eyes and drifting off into a peaceful slumber with a smile on her face.

* * *

><p>I loved writing Blaze's memory. I'm not sure if you guys were able to imagine it, but if you imagined it the way I did, it was just adorable. XD<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

Here you go! Sorry for the wait! ^^

* * *

><p>Once noon arrived, Blaze was awoken by the ringing of a doorbell. When she opened her eyes, she saw Vanilla coming out of the kitchen in a bit of a hurry.<p>

"Oh dear Blaze!" she said. "I apologize for waking you. I almost forgot about our company arriving at this hour for some lunch."

"That is quite alright Vanilla," Blaze said with a smile as she sat up and stretched. Vanilla answered the door where she found the Chaotix waiting on the doorstep. They were all smiling, but Vector was blushing at the sight of Vanilla.

"Hello gentlemen," Vanilla said as she moved out of the way for them to enter. "Please come on in. Lunch should be ready to serve in just a few minutes." She looked at the kitchen where she saw Cream getting the plates ready. "Cream dear, say hello to our guests." Cream came out of the kitchen with a big smile on her face.

"Hello Mr. Vector!" she said as she hugged the shaking crocodile.

"It's been some time now hasn't it?" Vector asked as he hugged her back. He then looked up at Vanilla. "I feel like we haven't seen each other in forever." Espio face palmed.

"Vector, it's only been three days," He said. Vector glared at him while Vanilla giggled.

"We indeed did miss you though. I'm very pleased that you guys could join us," She said. Vector couldn't stop getting lost in her brown eyes.

"How...how could we ever pass up on visiting you guys?" He asked. Vanilla smiled and motioned him to sit down.

"I'll be right out with your sandwiches." She looked over at Blaze. "Blaze dear, would you like me to make you something else, or would you like a sandwich?"

"A sandwich is fine Vanilla. Thank you," Blaze answered. She looked over at Cream and Charmy as they hugged each other and walked into the kitchen together. The sight of them made her smile.

"My teacher and her husband when they were young? I guess you can't get any cuter than that," She said under her breath before looking up at Vector and Espio. Vector was still shaking; badly enough to the point Espio had to move over. He looked over at him.

"You know this isn't the first time you've seen her," He said. "I would have thought maybe you'd be used to her by now."

"Is he okay?" Blaze asked. Espio smiled.

"He's in love with Vanilla and still can't control his anxiety around her." Vector glared at him.

"Shhh! Keep it down! She'll hear you!" He yelled. Espio crossed his arms.

"You're telling ME to keep it down when you're the one yelling?"

"I'm a detective you know, I can make your death look like an accident!"

"I'll believe that once you actually _solve_ a case." Blaze laughed as she watched the two argue. The boys looked at her.

"You guys are funny," She said. Vector put his hand behind his head and smiled.

"Well I'm glad you find us entertaining," He said. "I'm Vector, and this is my partner Espio."

"My name is Blaze. Pleased to meet you guys."

"Are you a friend of Cream's?" Espio asked her. Blaze scratched her head as she thought about what to say.

"I guess you can say that," she said. "They sort of found me on the beach last night. I guess I was so tired I just collapsed right there." Vanilla, Cream, Cheese, and Charmy came out with the sandwiches and served them out to everyone. Everyone sat down and ate, but Espio didn't abandon the conversation.

"So are you here alone?" He asked as he drank a glass of water. Vanilla looked at her.

"Oh yes dear I meant to ask you," she began. "Would you like us to help you search for your friend? We won't mind." Blaze shook her head.

"That's quite alright Vanilla. I can find him on my own. Thank you."

"What's that?" Charmy asked, with his face covered in mustard. "Your friend is missing? Sounds like a job for the Chaotix Detective Agency!"

"No, no. It's okay, really," Blaze said as her cheeks slightly turned pink. Charmy shrugged as he shoved his entire sub in his mouth.

"Geez Charmy where are your manners?!" Vector asked angrily. "When someone makes you food you are expected to taste, not inhale!" Vanilla giggled.

"My aren't you a hungry little bee? Would you like me to make you another sandwich?" She asked. Charmy nodded his head, to which Vanilla said, "Okay," and went into the kitchen. Vector shoved his arm, mentally telling Charmy that he was being rude.

"Why haven't you told her yet?" Blaze asked Vector. He looked down at the floor blushing.

"It's just something I never found the courage to do," He replied as he scratched his head. Espio looked over at him.

"Surely you can't keep hiding it forever," Espio told him. "It may be a pleasant time to finally ask her out on a date at least."

"Oh that would mean a lot to her Mr. Vector!" Cream said happily clasping her hands. Vector looked over at her slightly confused.

"You mean it Cream?" he asked. "You wouldn't mind at all?" Cream shook her head as she reached for Vector's hand.

"I very much enjoy making my mother happy, but I think it would be a great idea if she had a day out of the house. I trust you that you could keep her safe, and she very well enjoys your company." Cream's eyes grew bigger, in which convinced Vector to give in and go on with the idea.

"Okay," he said. "I'll try asking her when she comes back." Everyone smiled and clapped, which only made Vector feel embarrassed some more, and although Vector agreed to do this, Espio was not fully impressed.

"I'll clap when I actually see you do this," He replied. At that moment, Blaze stood up and began folding her blankets.

"I have to get going," she said as she picked up her plate and cup and walked into the kitchen. She washed her dishes, feeling that it would be rude of her to walk out and not help Vanilla.

"You are leaving now dear?" Vanilla asked. "Are you going to be okay?" Blaze nodded as she turned the faucet off and looked at her.

"Yeah I'll be alright. Thank you so much for letting me stay the night and making me lunch," she said. "Where should I put the sheets?"

"Oh just leave them on the couch dear. I will take care of it," She said. "Be careful out there." Blaze smiled.

"Thank you." Blaze then walked into the living room and said her goodbyes to Cream and the Chaotix. Espio seemed concerned, but he didn't go after her. When Blaze left, she headed towards the direction to the park a few blocks away.

She was pleased with how happy the people were and smiled at the sight of children running around and playing. Her smiles didn't last long once a newspaper was blown into her face by the wind. When she took the paper off her face, she became nervous.

"Oh no..." she said. "No...no...we made a mistake..." She looked around with the slightest hope that Chase or Silver were there, but knowing her luck, they weren't.

"We traveled back too far..." She said. She turned around and ran back into the city. "We went back in time more than decade than when the incident first occurred. If I don't find Chase and Silver soon, the timeline will be altered too much to the point we would destroy the future for good!"

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><p>Uh oh...this isn't looking too good. Imagine all the things that can wrong if you travel too far back in time. .-.<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

I actually teared up a bit when writing this part. But anyways, here you go. Ignore my emotions over my planned chapters. XD

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><p>Location: Green Hill<p>

Year: 2014

Chase was sitting on the field as he looked up into the bright blue sky. He wasn't too happy being alone, especially when he had the countless wonders of the whereabouts of Silver and Blaze. He let out a sigh as he picked a sunflower from the grass.

"Oh Amy..." He said. "I'm so sorry." He wrapped his arms around his knees and began to cry. "I never should have left with them! I should've stayed at the base and made sure they got out safely! How could I be so stupid?!" He looked at the sunflower and threw it in the distance. He continued to sob while staring out at the water. He eventually wiped away his tears.

"Ah come on Chase..." he said. "Pull yourself together. You're supposed to be the hero now. Heroes don't cry." He stood up and wiped his eyes as he stared out at the water. Although he went to Green Hill to clear his head, it wasn't much help, especially when he realized that this was where it all began.

"Chase!"

"Huh?" Chase turned around as he spotted Amy running towards him. He wiped his face as quickly as he could. "Come on man pull yourself together..." He said under his breath before looking at Amy. Amy panted by the time she got to him.

"Amy? What are you doing here? How did you find me?" He asked as he put his hands on her shoulders. Amy looked up at him.

"I've been looking for you everywhere," She said, and then gave him a tight hug and started crying. "I was afraid I wouldn't see you again! You completely abandoned me last night and I got scared!" Chase hugged her back. He tried not to cry in front her and decided to force a smile.

"Amy I would never abandon you," he said pulling away and smiling at her. "You're my friend Amy. I could never leave you."

"So why did you walk out on me?" She asked as tears continued to fall from her eyes. Chase sighed and scratched his head.

"I just had to go clear my head. I was going to come see you again later," He told her, but Amy didn't seem too convinced. She stayed quiet and looked down, but Chase gently lifted her chin up.

"Amy," he said. "Don't cry anymore. I hate seeing you cry."

"I'm sorry," Amy said. "I can't help it..." She looked into Chase's eyes and nearly melted on the spot. She loved his eyes and the smile he always gave her. He wiped the falling tears off her cheeks.

"Come on Amy," he said. "No more crying. You're too pretty for that." He took her hand and pulled her alongside him as they started to walk. "I think you need some ice cream. I know it's your favorite." Amy giggled and smiled at him.

"How'd you know?" she asked. Chase thought for a moment before looking at her.

"Because it's sweet and makes people happy. Just like you." He thought to himself. _"Nice save."_Amy blushed.

"Thanks Chase," she said. "You always know what to say." They continued to walk until they reached the ice cream stand in Station Square. They both ordered the 'Chocolate Chip Sundae Supreme' and sat at a table and talked.

Down the street not far from them was Sonic at the flower store. He looked at a sign and noticed a sale on roses.

"Uh..." he said to himself. He scratched his head. He knew nothing about flowers. "I guess I should just get her a rose." He walked inside of the store and looked around. There were numerous amounts of flowers in numerous amounts of colors. He started to shake as he looked at them all.

"How hard can it be?" He walked towards the section where all the roses were kept. There were many roses in different colors, which was something he wasn't expecting. He face palmed.

"Geez how can I tell a girl how I feel if I can't even pick a stupid flower out?" He sighed as he studied them. He gave her a white one a while ago, but that was only because it grew outside of Amy's house and it was the closest thing he could find.

"I can't give her another white one," he said. "A pink one is too obvious. A yellow one is just ridiculous. And...really? Blue roses? Now this is just stupid!" He hit his head and sighed. A customer beside him couldn't help but stare.

"Why don't you just give her a red one bro?" he asked as he took six red roses. "Geez you make a huge deal out of picking flowers out. Just give a girl a flower and boom. Everything's fine. That's how I got out of sleeping in the yard again." Sonic looked at him, unsure of how to respond. He took a red rose and followed the guy into the line.

"She kicked you out of the house for not buying her flowers?" he asked. The guy shook his head.

"Nope. She just said I paid more attention to basketball than I did to her." He took out his wallet. "What'd you do?"

"I guess I hurt her because I made her feel like I didn't like her," Sonic said as he scratched his head. The guy paid for his flowers.

"Well man, whenever you mess up, this store is your life saver." He took the bag from the cashier. "That, and chicks dig a wild night if you get what I mean. Make sure the neighbors know who you are, and you're guaranteed to sleep in the room for about a week." He winked, in which Sonic's cheeks turned completely pink.

"I don't think that applies to my situation..." He said as he paid for his roses. The guy laughed.

"Just some advice. Good luck bro. I gotta get these roses to her so she can tell me all the places around town where she hid my stuff. See ya!" Sonic's eyes widened as he took the rose and looked down. He was starting to sweat a little.

"Having a girlfriend doesn't seem all that exciting anymore," he said before letting out a sigh. "I sure hope Amy isn't like that." He walked outside and walked down the street.

"Okay Sonic. You can do this. Just tell her how you feel." A couple minutes later he caught sight of Amy. He felt his heart beat faster as he got closer.

"Okay there she is. Be strong Sonic." He walked a little faster until he reached the ice cream stand, but his eyes widened when he saw Chase sitting beside her.

"What...?" He asked himself. His heart was not only beating fast, but the pounding grew harder. He had a shortness of breath as he stared.

"Who is that guy?" He hid behind another table and observed. Chase and Amy threw away their dishes and walked together laughing. Sonic saw Chase holding her hand for a while, and his mouth dropped when he saw him put his arm around her.

"Amy..." he said to himself. He started to shake and put his hand over his chest. "I can't believe this..." He began sweating a lot more and looked at the rose. His eyes started to water, and without second thought, he grew angry, closed his eyes and threw the rose and ran away as fast as he could.

_"Shadow was right..."_ he thought as he started crying. _"If I didn't tell her soon, I'd lose her. How could this happen? Why did I wait so long to tell her the truth?! She's gone! Forever!"_He thought of all the moments he had with Amy.

"Amy," he said sobbing. "I'm so sorry..."


	10. Chapter 10

Finally! The part I've waited so long to make! :p

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><p>Location: Silver Valley<p>

Year: 2014

Chase and Amy spent the rest of the day at Silver Valley. Although the walk was far from the town, neither of them seemed to mind, especially Amy, whom had been giving Chase the 'dreamy eye' since the second they left Station Square.

The sun was beginning to set, and the sky began to change colors. Amy had her arm locked with Chase's as he told her about his childhood memories.

"Mom and dad used to take me here all the time when I was little," he said. "We would have picnics here and dad and I would throw Frisbees or play fight." He let out a sigh. "I miss it." Amy blushed.

"Well..." she began as she scratched her head. "Why don't we have a picnic here some time? We can have one tomorrow!" She made an attempt to look into Chase's eyes, but he avoided her gaze as he stared off into the sunset.

"I don't know how much longer I'm gonna be here Amy," he said. He looked over at her. "I'm only in town for a short amount of time. I came here to help a few friends of mine and then I was going to leave."

"What?" Amy frowned. "But...you told me you would never leave me..." Chase could see her eyes starting to tear up, to which he sighed and hugged her tight.

"I won't abandon you," he assured her, and pulled away and smiled. "You'll see me later. I promise." He locked his pinky with hers and wiped off her tears. Amy's cheeks got pinker by the second.

"Come on Amy," he said. "I told you, no crying. You're too pretty for that."

"Oh Chase!" Amy pulled him in for a hug, but it was usually the type of hugs in which she would give Sonic, meaning Chase was unable to breathe. "You make me so happy! You're the greatest guy I ever met and I don't want you to go away!"

"Lighten up Amy," Chase said as he patted her back. "It'll be okay. I pinky promised." Amy pulled away once she met Chase's gaze. It remained quiet for a moment before she slowly moved in to kiss him on the lips, but Chase immediately reacted and pushed her away.

"Amy!" He asked nervously. He started to sweat. "What...what are you doing?"

"I wanted to give you something to show you I like you too..." she said. She took his hand and made another attempt. Chase shook his head and fell on the grass as he backed away.

"Whoa there Amy! I think you misunderstood!" he said. "I like you, but-"

"You don't have to explain anymore Chase. I understand..." she kneeled as she moved closer towards him.

"Understand what?!" His eyes widened as he she neared and made another attempt. He pushed her away, this time with force and ran off in the distance. Amy quickly got up as she watched Chase run away from her. She noticed his speed was almost as fast as Sonic's.

"Chase!" She called out as tears began to flow from her eyes. She fell back on her knees and covered her face. She had once again, had her heart broken. She cried harder than she ever did before.

"Why doesn't anyone care about me?!" She asked sobbing. She lie down on the grass and sobbed into her arms. Meanwhile, Chase was no different.

Chase eventually reached Station Square and slowed to a walking pace. He was shaking at the thoughts of what happened. His heartbeat was faster than usual, and he took a lot of short breaths.

"What's going on?" He asked himself as he looked down at the concrete. "What just happened?" He was so distracted by the incidents that occurred that he didn't realize Blaze was just ahead of him.

"Chase!" She called out as she ran over to him. "I've been looking for you and Silver forever! We need to talk, right away! There's been a-"

"I can't talk right now Blaze," Chase said as he wiped off his cheeks. Blaze noticed he had been crying.

"Chase? Chase what happened?" She asked, but Chase shook his head and walked away. She immediately followed behind him. "Chase what's going on? Don't walk away from me." She grabbed his hand and forced him to look at her, but Chase shoved her away.

"THIS IS WRONG!" He yelled. "Going back to the past from the very beginning was wrong and you people forced me into it!" He turned around. "I can't believe for one moment I even trusted you two! You guys ruined everything!"

"Chase knock it off!" Blaze yelled as she made an attempt to grab his hand again, but Chase easily dodged her grasp.

"Just leave me the hell alone!" He sped off, much to Blaze's surprise. Her eyes widened as she watched him run off.

"He gained super speed..." She said softly, but she shook her head and followed up behind him. Although she was mad, she refused to be left behind.

_"You are not going to disappear on me again hedgehog..."_

Within a few minutes later, Chase found himself sitting towards the edge of a cliff over by Green Hill. He finally stopped crying, but his mood did not change. He stared off into the sunset as he tried to control his emotions. What he didn't realize was that he wasn't alone. He heard the sound of a twig breaking and reacted and turned around.

"Whose there?" He asked as he stood up and looked back at the trees behind him. A blue hedgehog stepped out, and Chase's eyes shot open.

"Sonic..." He said softly. He and Sonic finally met face to face, but the sight of Chase angered Sonic so much, he began to breathe heavily clutched his fists.

"You..." The blue hedgehog said angrily. Chase backed up a few steps as he noticed the anger in Sonic's eyes. He put his hands up in fear.

"Sonic..." he said. "Sonic what are you doing?"

"I'm gonna kill you, you little bastard!" Sonic yelled as he tackled Chase to the ground. His fur transitioned to a dark blue as the two hedgehogs began a full on brawl. He hit Chase a few times in the face, but before he could hit him again, Chase managed to escape from Sonic's grasp.

"Sonic please!" He cried. "I don't wanna fight you!" But Sonic didn't listen. He forcefully pushed Chase into a tree as he made another attempt to punch him in the face, but Chase being quick on his feet, once again managed to escape. He grabbed Sonic's arms from behind and tried holding them together.

"Sonic what did I do?!" He yelled in fear. "Why are you doing this?!" Sonic escaped from Chase's grasp and shoved him towards the cliff.

"You stole my girlfriend! You're dead!" He had Chase on the ground and repeatedly threw hits at him one by one. They were nearly inches away from the cliff. Chase had nowhere to escape this time, and trying to snap Sonic out of his dark phase was nearly impossible. It was at that moment, Sonic pinned him down, making eye contact with his Chase's head and the cliff. Chase struggled to free himself from his grip, but he wasn't strong enough.

"Sonic..." Chase said struggling to escape. His eyes were halfway open as his gaze met with the nearly possessed hedgehog.

"You're finished," Sonic said, before feeling a rush of flames thrown from behind him.

"SONIC NO!" Blaze screamed as she rushed to Chase's aid. She got in front of the blue hedgehog, her paws in lit with flames. The flames brought back the blue color to his fur, but although he was no longer Dark Sonic, he was still angry.

"What the?" He looked at the flaming cat. "Who are you?!" He stood up. "Stay out of the way!" Unable to control the situation, Blaze had no other choice but to tell the truth.

"THIS IS YOUR SON!"

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><p>To be continued...<p>

Oh come on! You can't tell me you never figured this out from Chapter 1! Read the genres people; Adventure and Romance, not mystery. :p I can't write mysteries because it's so hard not to spoil what happens. XD Anyway, **reviews appreciated! **xD


	11. Chapter 11

Let's continue with my...not so hard to figure out scene... XD

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><p>Chase managed to sit up as he began coughing. He watched as Blaze and Sonic met face to face. He never heard Blaze scream in such fear, and while she saved him, he felt guilty.<p>

"My son?" Sonic asked angrily before getting into his fighting stance. "I don't have a kid! You're crazy!" He moved in on Blaze, and while Blaze feared for Chase's life, she refused to back down.

"You moron!" She yelled. "We aren't from this point in time! We're travelers! We traveled through time to find you and help stop a bad future from happening!"

"Cut the crap!" Sonic told her. "I don't believe you. I don't know who you are, but I recommend you stay out of my way! You won't stop me from settling this!" He attempted to push Blaze aside and tackle Chase, but using her angry fiery fists of fury, Blaze hit Sonic back towards the trees.

"Blaze stop it!" Chase yelled out of fear. Blaze turned around and quickly rushed over to him. Her eyes had been watery.

"Chase you're hurt..." She said softly. The sight of the bruises made her feel pain within her own heart. "I'm so sorry Chase. I never meant for this to happen." She got up and made an attempt to pull the purple hedgehog to his feet, but Chase refused to stand.

"Come on," she said. "No more run-ins with anyone here. We are going to find Silver and we are going to do what our job was in the first place. This time you are not leaving my sight."

"You know I'm getting real sick of this!" Sonic yelled as he made his way towards the two. "It's like all of sudden everyone completely decided to turn against me! I don't know who you guys are, but you're going to regret ever meeting me!" He put his fists up. Blaze then rose to her feet and stood in front of Chase.

"That's really grown up, Sonic the Hedgehog!" She yelled sarcastically. "What has gotten into you?! How could you even think to hurt your own child?!"

"That's not my kid!" Sonic yelled. "I don't even have a girlfriend! The only person I had that was close to being my girlfriend was Amy," he pointed at Chase, "and that purple wannabe stole her from me!"

"Dad..." Chase said. "I didn't steal Amy away from-"

"Moron!" Blaze yelled over Chase. "Why do you think we're here?! We traveled to stop a bad future and why do you think we set out looking for you two?! Don't you get it?! We came here to stop you from making a big mistake! We came to make sure you and Amy got together to spare your son's life!" Sonic's eyes widened.

"You're...you're lying..." Sonic said in disbelief as he slowly backed away. He began to shake as he stared at them. He then looked down at his hands. "No..." Chase managed to stand up and walked towards Sonic.

"Dad..." he said, but before he could say another word, Sonic screamed and fell to his knees crying.

"You guys are lying to me aren't you?!" Sonic asked as he looked up at Chase and Blaze. Blaze sighed.

"Sonic..." she said. "Look at him. How could we lie about who he is? He...he looks just like you..." Chase kneeled in front of Sonic. They met eye to eye, but this time, it had more of a deeper moment.

"Your eyes..." Sonic said softly. "They kinda remind me of-"

"Amy's?" Chase asked. "I know." Sonic observed him from every angle. The more he stared at Chase, the more his eyes watered.

"You...you really do look like me..." He said. "And you have...those...three bangs in the front...almost like Amy's." He paused for a moment. "So...you mean Amy is-"

"My mom?" Chase asked. "Yes." Sonic put his hands on his head and applied pressure to his skull.

"How could I do this?" He asked. "What is WRONG with me?" He looked back at Chase. "I...I'm so-"

"Dad, I'm not mad at you," Chase told him as he put his hand on Sonic's shoulder. "I understand why you're reacting the way you are. You've been running away from love for so long, you were never able to experience the different feelings that go along with it. And because of that, you can't control them, and you act out aggressively. I'm here to help you." Sonic wiped his eyes.

"But I hurt my own flesh and blood..." he said. "That's not something I can just let go..." Chase smiled.

"To be honest Sonic I've experienced much worse," he said. "After all, I _am_ the son of the world's greatest hero. I'm the future of this world Sonic. I'm the next one in line to take your place." He touched Sonic's hand. "What you did was nothing compared to the play fights me and-"

"Chase," Blaze interrupted. Chase and Sonic looked at her. "I'm glad to see you and Sonic having a moment, but you can't tell him everything you know about the future. We already altered the past enough as it is. We can't afford to mess up again or we'll cease to exist long enough to stop the incident."

"Oh right," Chase said as he scratched his head. "Sorry." He stood up and held out his hand to Sonic. He pulled Sonic to his feet and smiled. He then hesitated for a moment before turning to Blaze. "You think I can handle the situation from here?"

"Alright," she said with her arms crossed. "But you need to be careful this time." Chase nodded and walked away beside Sonic into the woods. Sonic managed to stop crying, but his cheeks were still wet.

"So..." Sonic began. "Chase is it?" Chase nodded. Sonic looked over at him. "So where are you taking me?"

"Where ever the wind takes us," Chase told him. He reached for Sonic's hand. Sonic couldn't help but let out a chuckle at his response.

_"Sounds a lot like something I would say,"_ He thought. He continued to observe the purple hedgehog, but as he did so, he felt Chase grip his hand and pull him a little harder as he walked ahead. It was at that moment they found themselves on a road, to which Chase began to run with Sonic in his grasp.

"Huh? Chase what are you-" Chase let go of Sonic and smiled. The look in his eyes sparked a sense of joy as Sonic sped up himself.

"You tryna' race me?" Sonic asked him. Chase shrugged.

"That all depends dad," he said, and sped off out of Sonic's sight. "If you run that slow, I don't consider it much of a race!" Sonic smiled.

"Okay then," he said as he caught up. They met side by side. They were headed towards a range of rocky mountains. He then looked over at Chase. "I'm 90 percent convinced you're my son, but I'll gain the other 10 percent if you can prove it through speed. I wanna see you beat me to the rail canyon!" Chase smirked.

"Alright," he said. "But first I wanna see you catch me!" Chase dashed further ahead, to which gave Sonic a sense of joy. He grinned as he sped ahead, and the two constantly switched back and forth from first place and second.

_"He really is part of me."_ Sonic thought to himself. _"He has my looks, my super speed; I wonder what else he can do."_The rail canyon was just ahead, to which Chase looked back at him and grinned. Sonic felt a sense of warmth, as if he could feel a strong connection with Chase. He then began to laugh.

"Dad?" Chase asked. "What's so funny?" Sonic looked up at him tackled him down a dirt hill. When they reached the bottom, they fell side by side and laughed together. Sonic laughed so much to where tears flowed from his eyes. He then turned to look at the smiling purple hedgehog.

"That was pretty fun," He told him. Chase sat up and let out a sigh.

"Do you believe me now Sonic?" He asked. He pulled Sonic up off the ground. Sonic couldn't stop smiling.

"Yeah," he said. "I believe you now for sure." Chase pulled his hand and led the way ahead as they walked. "So now where are we going?" Chase didn't answer. He just continued to walk. Sonic felt a strong sense of love in his heart the more he looked at Chase. It was a new type of love he felt at that moment, and it was only the beginning. He smiled as he scratched his head.

_"He may be from the future, but if you ask me, I say this may be the start of a brand new beginning."_He looked up at the sky. _"Who could've thought me, Sonic the Hedgehog, would have a son? I mean, I know it's a possibility in the future, but I never would have expected it to happen to me. I guess maybe Tails was right, that eventually I will slow down. But...could time really have gone by so fast to where this day would come?_

_And Amy...I can't remember the last time I cared so much. I cared about her before, but now it's become more noticeable. Chase was right. I have been running away from these feelings for so long, and I lack the knowledge to control my own thoughts and actions. I just hope whatever he's planning on doing with me that he can help me out, and I really hope it isn't too late for me and her. If it is, that means I won't see him again."_ Sonic sighed.

_"I really messed up haven't I? All these years I had so much time to fix things and I just ran away from them expecting that things would just fall into place. Makes you wonder doesn't it? How you can mess up so badly that someone in the future has to come back and help you fix it? You'd think as a hero that maybe I would know better, but I guess everyone has their own pace when learning something new, and what I learned the moment Amy turned on me, is that you can't run away from your problems. It's okay to have time to think them over, but by the time you realize the worth in them, it can sometimes be too late."_ He looked at his hand that Chase held.

_"Maybe it's not too late for me yet. If this guy came from the future and remains here, maybe there is a chance to fix this after all. If there is, then I can't waste any more time. I need to fix things up with Amy, or I'll lose both her, and Chase forever..."_

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><p>Yeah you don't say Sonic? Gosh. Sad to know your mind is as slower than your feet in this plot line. Then again I wrote it that way. But I'm sure if this really happened it probably would have played out in the same manner, except maybe without a future kid and less anger issues. I don't know. .-.<p>

Anyways thanks for reading. **Reviews appreciated!** :D


	12. Chapter 12

So yeah um...Lightning Returns Final Fantasy XIII is amazing and has stopped me from committing myself to everything including this fanfic. But don't worry I'm here and here's another chapter. XD

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><p>Location: Deep Woods<p>

Year: 2014

Rouge popped up out of a pile of gems. They found the temple she mentioned which had been built in the middle of the jungle. There were numerous amounts of gems lying around.

"These are lovely!" She said as she held a ruby and blue topaz. Her eyes widened when she saw a gold crown. She then reached her out for it and placed the crown on top of her head. "Look Shadow! I'm a Queen!" Shadow had his arms crossed and he had his back turned towards her the whole time.

"Congratulations," he said. "You are **officially** a royal pain in my ass." Rouge glared at him.

"If you're going to be so mean to me then why don't you just go back to that stupid lake and go feel sorry for yourself?" Shadow turned around and pulled her by the pink heart of her cat suit.

"If you expect to make it out of here without a single scratch," he began. "Then I suggest you keep your mouth shut." His red eyes made Rouge shiver, and she nodded without saying a word. Shadow let go of her and walked away from the scene. She flew out of the pile of gems and circled the old temple.

"Well if he won't get into the spirit of things, I guess I won't let this get me down. I'll just keep the gems all to myself." She kept an eye out as she circled the building.

"There must be a door somewhere around here. If the gems out here are gorgeous, I can only imagine what's hiding on the inside." She spotted the door and flew down over to it. She made an attempt to push, but the doors wouldn't open. She then tried pulling them, but they still wouldn't budge.

"Ugh! There's gotta be some way to get inside!" She then started kicking the door, then flying away and kicking it from afar, but nothing worked. She started panting before realizing there had been a keyhole.

"Joy," she said. "Looks like I need to find the key." She turned around and walked down the steps and searched in each pile of gems. She did this for about an hour before sighing and wiping her forehead.

"Yeash there's no key anywhere. How am I supposed to find that?" She pulled out the map and studied it.

"There aren't any markings that indicate anything about a key. In fact, based on my research I did on this place, the temple should be completely accessible. Could my research have been wrong?"

Suddenly, there was a loud rustling noise and creaking noise. Rouge turned around only to watch the doors open on their own. She was frightened, but she didn't let that stop her from running inside. She looked around, but there was no sign of anyone being there.

"The last thing I need is for ghosts to start popping out at me. I better just take my treasure and get out of here." She flew up ahead and saw a golden glow. The glow had gotten brighter the more she flew towards it, and when she reached it to find the source, her eyes sparkled when she saw a pool of shiny gems and gold.

"Is this real life or am I in heaven?" She asked herself as she dove into the pool of gems. She picked up a few and put them inside a bag. She then looked up for just a moment and saw something odd. The walls had engravings of what looked like echidnas. There were graphics and words written in a language Rouge couldn't make out, but she didn't bother to pay attention to it too long. Once she got her bag full, she flew out of the pool towards the walls.

"These hieroglyphics remind me of old Knucky," She said. "But I wonder why they're here? My research didn't go into full detail about this place other than the fact it was marked on my treasure map. I guess maybe I should do better research next time instead of focusing on treasure, but can you blame a gal?" Rouge kept walking as she observed the writings. She heard the sound of pebbles falling from the ceiling.

"This place sounds like it's going to crumble any moment now. Better get out of here." When she took her first step, a white bat landed in front of her, scaring Rouge enough to make her scream. The bat looked like her, but she grew a bit of hair between her ears, and she wore a black cat suit as if she was a robber.

"You look like me..." Rouge said as she observed her. The white bat pointed to Rouge's bag.

"Let me guess," she began. "You were going to steal those weren't you?" Rouge slightly blushed, but she was more freaked out than embarrassed.

"No. Yes. Maybe. Why?" The bat sighed.

"Ugh what was I even thinking?" she asked herself. Rouge then rolled her eyes and got angry.

"Alright, I don't know who you are but you're not having any of my treasure!" She spread her wings and flew off, but the bat followed behind her, grabbed her boot and threw her down on the ground and stood above her.

"Well that's rude! Who do you think you are?" Rouge asked as she rubbed her head. The white bat bent over to her face.

"Can't you tell? Surely you're more intelligent than that." Rouge glared at her.

"You're a fake, that's what you are," She said as she sat up. The bat shook her head.

"Surely Rouge, I am no fake. I'm as real as can be. Guess again." Rouge scratched her head.

"How did you know my name?" she asked. She was startled at this point. The bat got close to her face and looked her straight in the eyes.

"Because," she began. "I am you, from the future."


	13. Chapter 13

How many of you thought it was the future child? LOL NO. I don't imagine Rouge to be the married type. She's too flirty in my opinion. Most of the time I don't pair her up with anyone for that reason but again, that's just me. .-.

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><p>"No way!" Rouge yelled. "I don't believe you! Prove it!" Future Rouge sighed as she pulled out a piece of paper with her face on it. It was a "wanted" sign. Rouge looked at it before looking at her.<p>

"You are me," she said. "But why are you wanted by the police? What did you do?" Future Rouge looked at the bag of gems Rouge had beside her. She stood up and closed her eyes.

"What you do," she said. She looked at her. "At this point in time after I discovered this temple, I began to feel the need to start stealing again. I couldn't help myself. The more gems and jewelry I stole, the more I became addicted. And that's not the worst part..."

"What's the worst part?" Rouge asked. Future Rouge looked at her.

"I joined up with a group of bandits and together we robbed numerous of stores, banks, even stole from places like this. We took so much that didn't belong to us, and we became wanted by the entire world. Not just Station Square, the whole world." She turned around to face her.

"All of this happened because I came to this very place alongside Shadow because I felt like I lost part of who I was. But once I began stealing again, I became addicted to it, and I got myself into so much trouble with not only the world itself, but the action eventually sabotaged somebody else's future."

"Who are these bandits? And whose future did you sabotage?" Rouge asked. Future Rouge leaned against a stone pillar.

"I joined forces with the Babylon Rogues, and the future I ruined was Knuckles'." She sighed. "It was because of me he doesn't have anybody anymore. The future in which I come from he's growing old and lives on that same silly island he's always been at, guarding that large emerald from people that try to steal it." Rouge scratched the back of her ear.

"But isn't the future made of many possibilities?" she asked. Future Rouge looked at her.

"It is, but I'm afraid every action you take leads you to create a different outcome. With the actions I took, it destroyed nearly most of any possible good things for our future, and it was bad enough that I ruined somebody else's along with it."

"By any chance do you know what Knuckles' future is supposed to be like? How did you ruin it?"

"I can't tell you that. I can't take the risk in going back in time just to ruin the future some more. I came here to stop you." She stood up normally. "You need to return those gems back where they belong. They are not yours Rouge." Rouge stood up and put her hands on her hips. She held the bag of gems in her hand.

"No way! I'll be way more careful than you ever were. I don't need to worry gorgeous. I'll just make sure I never get caught."

"You're not listening to me!" Future Rouge yelled. "You're going to ruin your life! You're going to ruin knuckles' as well! Doesn't that mean anything to you?!"

"Who cares about him anyway? After all the mistreatment he's shown me over the years he very well deserves to be alone. He acts as though he wants to be, so I don't see the need not to give him what he wants. Besides, how's stealing some valuable precious gems ruining _his_ life anyway?"

"Because this temple is where he is going to find his destiny! This is where all of his questions about his clan and his past are going to be answered! His family is here!" Future Rouge gasped and put her hands over her mouth. Rouge glanced at her.

"So his family is still alive? He's not the only one? Well why didn't you just say so? Let's go and tell him!" Before Rouge could take off, Future Rouge slammed her against the wall.

"Why are you so hard-headed?!" She yelled. You are not to mention this to anybody do you understand me?! I came here to change our life and save somebody else's. You are going to listen to me because I guarantee if the both of us cease to exist, it will not change anything!"

"You wouldn't kill me. You'll die along with me. Why would I attempt suicide?" Rouge asked as she looked into her future self's raging eyes.

"Because after the awful life I have lived years from now I completely regret everything I did and all the people I have lost. Either you change or we die. Either way I'll be doing everyone a favor. You act like you don't care and that nothing people say about you or do to you hurt, but deep inside that sassiness in your heart it kills you. You feel your heart breaking each and every time for it, and you act out by being a thief because it makes you feel wanted even in the wrong ways.

You take a large interest in gems because everyone is attracted to their value and beauty. You want to be able to feel beautiful and wanted by everyone just as diamonds or emeralds or rubies, but stealing got you in so much trouble in the future, and now you are the most hated person on the planet. You thought it was bad when Knuckles or Shadow hurt your feelings because they weren't interested in your company. Try having a whole planet of people that want you dead." Both of the Rouges' eyes were watering. Future Rouge let her younger self go as she wiped her face of the tears. Rouge fell to the ground and started crying into her knees.

"I am such an idiot! How could I be so stupid?" Her sobbing made her blue eye shadow run. Future Rouge sat down beside her and wrapped her arms around her younger self.

"It hurts a lot. I know..." Future Rouge said as her eyes watered again. Rouge continued sobbing.

"Why doesn't anyone like me? Why do they hate me so much? What did I do wrong?" Future Rouge closed her eyes as she leaned her head on Rouge's shoulder.

"I don't know..." They both continued to cry together, completely unaware that someone had been watching them from the shadows. The minutes had gone by, but the scene of the two white bats didn't change. Rouge wiped her eyes, her gloves dirty with eye shadow and mascara.

"I won't take the gems," she said. "I want to be a different person. I want a good future. But where do I start? Do you know?" Future Rouge smiled.

"Well, there are two possibilities that might do us some good that I know of. But being as though I hurt you, I feel as if it is only right that I guide you to do those things." Future Rouge told her.

"I'd like that," Rouge said with a small smile. "I'm probably my only best friend I even have." Future Rouge giggled as she stood up and held out her hand. She pulled Rouge to her feet.

"Come on beautiful," she said. "Before we go do anything, we ought to go to your place and touch up your make up. I don't want myself going out looking like that." Rouge smiled, but before she took a step forward, she looked at the bag of jewels she had. She picked the bag up off the floor and threw them as hard as she could where the large pile of gems were.

Once that was done, the two bats started laughing and flew out of the temple into the sky. Future Rouge stopped for a second before moving forward with her younger self.

"Hey aren't ya coming?" Rouge asked. Future Rouge nodded.

"Yeah I'm right behind you! Keep going! I gotta do something real quick!" When Rouge was out of sight, Future Rouge landed on the ground and looked up in the trees. She spotted a figure leaning against a tree on a branch.

"It's done," she said. "I'm sorry for causing you trouble."

"Hmph, you should be. Thanks to you I almost didn't exist," It said in a sassy voice. Future Rouge sighed.

"Well I fixed up everything and now you can set out to fix your part of the future. I get it that I messed up before. Please don't make me feel any more terrible than I already do."

"Did your crummy self return those jewels?" The figure asked. Future Rouge nodded. "Good. Thanks for the help. And good luck ya old bat. Ha ha!" The moonlight that peeked through the leaves revealed a pair of blue eyes, one of them winking at Future Rouge before jumping down and walking away.

"I'm not that old. You're just like Knuckles and Shadow; always picking on me." Future Rouge said, only she knew that this person never intended to hurt anyone.

"I'll take that as a compliment Rouge. Now get going. I'll see you soon enough." Future Rouge took off, and the figure vanished into the darkness in the trees.

_"Now to find Mystic Ruin. Angel Island shouldn't be far."_


	14. Chapter 14

Hmmm...this isn't looking too good...

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><p>Meanwhile, deeper into the woods, Amy was sobbing and walking along a trail. She didn't have any idea how far she walked, but even with a trail, she still had no clue where she was. Every turn on the trail only led her to the same place, bringing fear to the poor pink hedgehog.<p>

"I couldn't find true love and now I can't find a way out of here!" She complained, her eyes still watery but now slightly red. She stopped walking and fell to her knees. She was cold and now shivering.

"This was a huge mistake," she said. "I should have just gone home. I don't know why I made an attempt to run off. Now I'm gonna starve here or maybe be eaten by a bear or something." She started hearing noises from the trees, which instantly silenced her sobs. Her heart nearly stopped, unsure of what was coming up behind her. She was too scared to turn around, but being as though she was lost and there was no sign of her hero Sonic, she figured what else did she have to lose?

She turned around slowly as a shadowy black mass closed in on her. Her eyes widened in fear as she backed away into a tree and panted heavily. When the figure became clear, she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Quiet! Stop screaming!"

"Eggman what do you want?!" Amy yelled as she continued crying. Eggman scratched his head.

"First off I'd like to know why you are in the woods to begin with. I didn't expect to run into you." He looked around and turned on a flashlight from his Eggmobile. "Is that pesky hedgehog here too?!"

"He's not here Eggman!" Amy said sobbing. Eggman looked at her.

"Why are you blubbering? I haven't even done anything to you yet!" He yelled.

"Because I hate guys! Sonic is the absolute worst! All he ever did was break my heart and I was stupid enough to go after him!" Eggman looked rather confused. He wasn't sure how to feel let alone even respond.

"Well this isn't at all what I was expecting," he said, but then he changed his tone and got angry. "But you can't tell me that you didn't see that one coming! I mean what did you expect? He's stubborn, selfish, greedy, and doesn't care at all how badly he hurts others! Even after our battles I've never had one visit at the hospital from that pesky hedgehog! Not once!"

"He doesn't even consider the fact of not hurting me when you kidnap me! He completely ignores the fact I am there!" Amy complained. Eggman crossed his arms.

"What makes you think that would change after each time it's happened? Sonic NEVER gave a damn about you! All he intends to do is ruin MY life and he doesn't care about how that affects his friends! I'm all that Sonic wants. All you and the rest of your friends are are just backup, and even then he still doesn't need any of you to get what he wants." Eggman's words only ripped Amy apart some more, but they also made her angry.

"Oh how I HATE that hedgehog! Oh I swear when I get out of here I'm gonna make him pay for what he's done to me!" Amy yelled. Eggman's eyes widened and he deviously grinned, showing that he had a plan.

"So you want to get even with Sonic do you?" He asked her. She nodded.

"You bet. He's gonna wish he was never born when I get my hands on him. That stupid jerk! Oh he's gonna suffer for what he's done to me!" Eggman deviously chuckled.

"If you want to get even with Sonic, I think he won't stand a chance if we work together. I can make you stronger and more powerful, but that's only if you mean your own words." Amy stood up.

"Why would I trust you for?! All you have ever done was kidnap me! How do I know this isn't some trick?!" She asked.

"Because you wouldn't stand a chance against Sonic, let alone keep up with him. I can give you those abilities, but only if you promise to do something for me."

"Oh yeah and what's that?" Amy asked.

"Oh nothing too difficult. In fact it can wait until later, but I would very much like to help you out. What do you say Miss Rose? Do we have a deal?" He held out his hand. Amy thought for a moment.

That was when she shook his hand.

"Great. Climb aboard. We don't want to waste time. We'll make sure Sonic pays for the pain he's made us suffer with." Amy sat on one of the wings of the Eggmobile, and moments later, they took off into the sky. All it took was a major heartbreak to prevent her from thinking clearly, and this time, she didn't need to get kidnapped to take off with the enemy of her once beloved hero.

A few hours later, Amy had been locked down to a steel platform. Eggman had been typing on his computer and grinning evilly, but the pink hedgehog was disturbed by his actions.

"Um...are you sure this is going to make me stronger?" she asked. "This is very uncomfortable." Eggman chuckled.

"Patience my dear," he said. "You'll be free real soon. I am just setting up and calculating blueprints to make you merely invincible!" He stood up and walked over to her. He pulled out a helmet from underneath the platform and carefully placed it on her head. It had numerous amounts of wires attached to it.

"What's this thing?" she asked. She felt the helmet lock onto her skull. "Ow! Hey what's the big idea?!"

"Don't worry," Eggman said as he pushed one of the buttons on the helmet. "It will do no harm. In fact, it'll make it much easier for me to work on your new transformation. Now you relax while I activate the machine." He walked back over to his computer. Amy could feel her heart rate increase.

"Eggman maybe this was a bad idea. I don't wanna go through with it. Just let me go. Please?" Eggman started laughing. That only signaled one thought to Amy.

"You're pathetic," he said. "You really thought I was going to risk doing you a favor and setting you free? Surely you couldn't have been that blind! Now you're all mine to do my dirty work."

"You tricked me!" Amy yelled. The machine began to power up and charge.

"I wouldn't say tricked Amy. You will get even with Sonic just as you had wished. But the catch is that I will make sure that you obey all of MY orders. A deal is a deal Miss Rose!" Eggman laughed evilly as an electric charge from the helmet zapped Amy.

"SONIC! CHASE! SOMEBODY! HEEEEEELP!" She screamed, but she started to fade away and eventually blacked out.

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><p>You know Amy...maybe that would have never happened if you learned to..."Let it go...Let it go...". I am so sorry. Frozen is just beautiful. XD<p> 


	15. Chapter 15

FINALLY we have some Knuckles! Took me only 15 chapters.

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><p>Location: Angel Island<p>

Year: 2014

The sun rose into the clear blue sky for early morning. Angel Island was empty, yet still very beautiful as it was always kept. You could hear the sounds of the birds chirping and smell the morning dew from the bright green grass.

Knuckles had been awake, still standing in the same position as you always found him. He stood there guarding the Master Emerald with a blank face, but his mind was full of countless wonders.

_"I haven't slept in weeks,"_ he thought to himself. _"I haven't been so tired in my life."_ He opened his eyes as he stared out to the field. He had his arms crossed.

"Is this really all that I was meant to do? Stand in front of the Master Emerald and guard it from harm or abuse of power? I understand that this is part of my destiny, but there is so much more to me than this." He sat down on the ruined stone steps. He then let out a sigh.

"Maybe...maybe I can do something. I can still guard the Master Emerald but I don't have to stand around here all day doing so. I can still do things." He looked down at the stone steps and got an idea.

"That's what I'll do," he said. "I'm going to rebuild all of what was lost from Angel Island." He stood up and immediately got to work. He took the Master Emerald with him as he gathered as many stones as he could find, wasting no time on the project.

He did this towards the afternoon, and by now he gathered supplies and large gray stone bricks. He drew up his own blue prints and followed each step. He already had nine large stone bricks laid out horizontally. His heavy lifting of the stones made him sweat, and he began to panting.

"Ugh, I haven't done this much lifting in so long," he said. "I'm not sure if I'm starting to get out of shape or just getting a bit too old to be moving so fast." He glanced over at the pile of stones he gathered and sighed.

"Maybe I shouldn't do this. This is too much for one person to handle. I ought to just leave this go. So much for all the work I just did."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." said a female voice. It caught Knuckles off guard as he quickly turned around to see who it was. He spotted a red echidna wearing a black armored battle suit almost similar to Shade's. She was walking straight towards him with a sly smile on her face.

"I always admired your spirit old man, but doing that will just go against everything you stand for," She said. She was now standing in front of Knuckles. She had blue eyes and wore what seemed to look like a large black headband, only it was made of metal and possessed a Cheshire silver symbol, almost the same replica as the one on Knuckles' fur.

"You're...an echidna..." Knuckles said. He was in shock. Other than Tikal and Shade, he had never met a female echidna on Mobius.

"Aren't you observant?" She asked sarcastically. "Did you know that big ball of fire in the sky is called the sun? And those green stringy plants sprouting from the ground grass? Or that the stuff we breathe in is called air?" Her sarcasm easily irritated Knuckles.

"Hey!" he yelled. "I don't need you walking on over here to make fun of me! Who are you anyway?!" She didn't hesitate to lie on top of the stone bricks Knuckles had laid out. She put her arms behind her head as she easily just made herself at home.

"I'm someone you're gonna know," she said as she closed her eyes, "Just not right now." Knuckles was confused.

"What?" He asked. "I don't recall us ever meeting. I've never seen you before in my life." The girl opened one eye.

"That's because we haven't met yet." Her words only confused Knuckles some more, but he didn't consider wasting time trying to figure out what they mean.

"What are you trying to do?" He asked angrily. "Are you trying to confuse me or something? You don't even know me!" The girl sat up and looked at him.

"You wanna bet old man?" She asked. Knuckles held up a fist.

"Stop calling me that! Do you know who you're dealing with?!" She laughed and held up her fists. They were shaped exactly like Knuckles', but instead of gloves, they were covered in armor.

"I do in fact," she said. "But I'm afraid it's _you_ that doesn't know who you're dealing with...Knuckles." Knuckles' eyes widened as he stood in his fighting stance.

"How...did you know my name?" He grew angry and raised his fists again. "Quit messing around! You don't know what I'm capable of!" The girl gave a sly smile again.

"You don't know what I'm capable of ether." She looked at his fists. "What are you gonna do old man? You wouldn't hit me."

"I won't?!" Knuckles challenged. "Try me!"

"Hit me with your best shot then. I'm right here for ya!"

Without hesitation, Knuckles threw the first punch, but the girl easily dodged it. He threw another punch, to which she caught his fist in her right hand and threw him into the stone bricks.

"You sure you wanna fight me Knucklehead? I don't wanna break those weak bones of yours," She teased.

"I am NOT weak!" Knuckles charged right towards her, throwing punches left to right. She dodged all of them, and when she had the chance, she threw punches of her own to which knocked Knuckles straight to the ground.

"Agh! What the hell?! What's with the iron fists?!" He asked as he put his hands to his ribs. "I think you broke something. That was completely unnecessary."

"Me hitting you was unnecessary?" she asked. "I warned you. I told you that you didn't know who I was or what I was capable of. It's not like I wanted to fight an old fart like you. I'm not _that_ mean." The more she insulted him the more Knuckles' anger grew. As she started to laugh, he didn't hesitate to hit her in the stomach as well as the face. The thorns on his fist scratched her cheek.

"Agh!" She rubbed her cheek. "That was a cheap shot. You're gonna pay for that!" Once again, the two battled it out. Her iron fists against Knuckles could easily break every bone in his body, but as Knuckles could tell by the way she was punching, she was trying to hit him lightly.

_"There's no way she's serious right now_," he thought. _"Anyone with iron fists could not attempt to hit lightly as she is. Her first punch to my ribs was harder than what she's doing now. Why is she trying to go easy on me for?"_

When Knuckles attempted to uppercut her, he instantly missed to which the girl took advantage.

"Wide open!" The girl speared him to the ground and held her iron fist to Knuckles' face. She was smiling again.

"Who are you?" He asked as he panted for air. The girl grinned.

"The name's Phoenix," she said. "Glad you gave me such a warm welcome, but I'm afraid we extended our meeting a bit too long." She stood up and lent Knuckles a hand. "Now get your lazy bones up. We got things to do."

"Whoa wait a second! Hold on! What do you mean 'we'?! I don't even know you!" Knuckles yelled. Phoenix rolled her eyes. "You expect me to just tag along someplace with a complete stranger? I've only known you for ten minutes! Based on the way you treated me I'm not even close to being convinced I can trust you!"

"You can trust me," she said. "I have my reasons."

"Save them! I'm out of here!" Knuckles turned around and walked away. Phoenix watched as she shook her head.

"Ugh, he clearly isn't the brains of us that's for sure," she said to herself. She stared at him. "I guess you don't want to see the rest of us do you?" she asked him. "I know where your family is." That was enough to make Knuckles stop in his tracks and turn around.

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"Your family? I know where they are. I can take you to them." The look on Knuckles' face indicated that he wasn't buying her story.

"What?" she asked. "You really didn't think the entire echidna race was really wiped out did you?"

"I...uh..." Knuckles was at a loss of words. "There are really more of us?" He asked. "Where are they?" Phoenix had on a sly smile again.

"If you come along I'll show you," she said. Knuckles nodded and ran towards her. They were walking along a bride that led to the woods.

"So...is that where you came from?" he asked. Phoenix hesitated.

"You can say that."

"This better not be some kind of trick Phoenix," Knuckles told her. "This is something serious. This is about my family. I'm trusting you. Don't make me regret it." Phoenix looked at him.

"Jeez can't you give me just a tad bit of credit? If you were truly the only one left then I would cease to exist wouldn't I?"

"Yeah but you still haven't told me entirely who you are or where you came from. You're pretty shady, but I'm going to give you a chance if it means finding my family." Phoenix laughed and ran off.

"How do you know you haven't found one of them already?" She asked as she ran into the woods. Knuckles chased after her.

"What are you talking about? Come back here!" He yelled. He tried keeping up with her in the woods, but the plants and trees made it hard to see her clearly. He began to think to himself as he continued to run and dodge plants and branches that blocked his path.

_"What does she mean by that? Is she just trying to mess with me or something? Who is this girl, and where did she come from?"_


	16. Chapter 16

Thank you guys for the reviews so far! Let's me know I'm doing something right. :)

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><p>Location: Station Square<p>

Year: 2014

Sonic and Chase were walking down the streets of the city. They were talking about their interests, enjoying chili dogs, and debated if combat boots were better than sneakers.

"No way," Sonic said. He was holding a half-eaten chili dog in his hand. "Sneakers are light. You can actually run in them." Chase rolled his eyes and took the last bite of his chili dog.

"If I wore sneakers I would feel like they'd fall off," He said.

"That's what a buckle is for genius," Sonic said jokingly. Chase shook his head.

"I prefer boots because I feel like they will stay on. Plus they look a lot better than your running shoes," Chase said pointing to Sonic's shoes. Sonic gave him a little shove to the shoulder.

"Whatever you wanna believe kid," he said. They're conversation stopped when they spotted crime scene tape by a jewelry store just up ahead. Police cars were speeding by as they sounded off their sirens.

"That doesn't look good," Chase said. Sonic nodded.

"We better go check it out." The two hedgehogs rushed over to the scene. When they reached the entrance to the store, they were shocked by the amount of damage it had. They saw a clerk practically shaking in fear talking to the police.

"What happened?" Sonic asked as he walked over to them. An officer turned to him.

"There was a robbery," the officer stated. "The thing is, is that whoever it was only stole a rare item. It was a purple emerald." They looked at the shattered glass from the showcases. "They didn't steal anything else, at least from what we checked."

"Is there a security camera that might have caught the thief?" Sonic asked. The officer sighed and put his hands on his hips.

"There were security cameras; however they failed to record anything when we discovered that they had been disconnected around the time of the robbery. From what was already recorded, this occurred about five thirty this morning. That was when the cameras got cut." The officer looked at the shattered showcases.

"We had someone come in and try to find any fingerprints or objects left behind, but other than the shattered glass the scene was practically wiped clean. Right now we have no leads or even witnesses." Sonic looked down.

"There's gotta be some way to find this person," Sonic said. "I have a general idea that this was Eggman's doing, but if it was him there had to be some form of his DNA hiding around in here somewhere. He couldn't escape a scene without leaving fingerprints or hair for that matter." Sonic looked up at the officer. "We'll keep a look out around town for anything suspicious." The officer nodded.

"We will too," he said. "If they were able to escape the scene, we are almost 100% sure that they will do it again. We have alerted all jewelry shops in the area. Thanks for assisting us Sonic the Hedgehog."

"No problem," Sonic said, and then turned to Chase and exited out of the building.

"Purple emerald?" Chase asked. "That sounds like a chaos emerald."

"It is a chaos emerald," Sonic told him. "But if it wasn't Eggman, who else could it be? The only person I could think of to do this is Rouge, but Rouge works with the government now. There's no way they would let her get off freely for this." Sonic looked down at his feet as he continued to think. "And Rouge wouldn't just go after one piece of jewelry and not the others."

"If it's not Dr. Eggman and it's not Rouge, then who else could it be?" Chase asked him.

"I don't know," Sonic said. "But we're gonna find out. Someone is after the chaos emeralds, and we need to figure out whom and why." The two hedgehogs ran off. They were heading towards Tails' workshop. Sonic knew that with Tails' help they could catch the culprit.

Location: Deep Woods

Year: 2014

It was getting dark out at this time, but that didn't stop Silver from walking around the woods. He had been on a trail as he made his way towards the direction of the city.

"I can feel them," he said. "They are close. They have to be in that city." He carelessly stepped on twigs and leaves, and didn't let the thought that something might be out there bother him. Seconds later, he immediately stopped when he heard the sound of someone groaning.

"What?" He looked around. It was dark in the woods and it was hard to track where he heard the noises. "Whose there? Hello?" There wasn't any response. He kept quiet as he tried to listen to the groans again. He then managed to get a general idea of where it was coming from. He walked as quietly as he could, this time avoiding the twigs and leaves to prevent signaling off any sounds from whoever was nearby.

"Mmmmmmmm..."

Silver stopped when he heard the groan again. He let his glowing gloves light the path, and his heart nearly stopped when he saw a trail of blood.

"What..." he said under his breath. He looked around, unsure if to ask if anyone was there or not. He decided to follow the trail, and the blood led him directly to the source. He gasped and rushed over to the victim whom had been leaning against a tree.

It was Shadow.


	17. Chapter 17

This scene was probably one of my favorites to write. Sorry that it's short, but I felt like breaking the parts up was necessary.

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><p>"Hey! Are you okay?!" Silver asked when he got to him. Shadow coughed. His gloves were ripped up as if he was in a heavy fight and his sneakers were covered with dirt and some of his own blood. He had open wounds on his arms and one on his stomach. There had also been a scratch on his face, and he finally managed to open his eyes.<p>

"Help...me..." He said softly. He had his hand covering his stomach.

"I will," Silver said. "Can you get up? Do want to stay put for a few minutes?" Shadow shook his head. "Alright." He carefully helped Shadow to his feet. He put Shadow's arm around him to aid him.

"Who did this to you?" Silver asked. Shadow managed to open his right eye halfway.

"It happened...so quick..." He said. "I remember...just...walking...being on my way to...Station Square...and then suddenly...I was attacked..." He had trouble speaking loudly, and he couldn't manage to stop coughing for very long.

"Was it just a forest creature?" Silver asked him. Shadow shook his head.

"They wanted...my chaos emerald..." He said. "I tried to...stop them...but when I went to attack...all of a sudden...they took out a weapon...and slammed me into a tree..."

"Well don't you worry," Silver said. "I'm gonna get you to hospital. I was on my way to the city too. My name is Silver." Shadow looked at him.

"No...need for...introductions..." He told him. "I remember...who you are..." Silver looked at him. The last time they met was during their battle against Solaris, but once the flame was blown out and the past was changed, nobody was supposed to remember who he, Blaze, and Iblis were.

"You mean you remember?" Silver asked. "But how can that be?"

"I never forget," Shadow replied. "My past...and the person that...did this to me...may seem blurry...but I can't...forget the...incidents of what could have been..." Silver didn't know what to say, but he knew that Shadow was the type of person to assist him.

"You're here...for that kid...aren't you?" Shadow asked.

"I don't understand," Silver told him. "That hasn't even happened yet. How do you know all of this?" Shadow managed to smile.

"I can't say...I can see everything...but my life is eternal...and with the power of the chaos emeralds...I discovered the ability...to see certain events within time..."

"Impressive," Silver said. They managed to get out of the woods. The city was in sight and they only needed to go another half a mile through a grassy field.

"There's no way you can make it this long," Silver said. "Hang on. I'm taking you for a lift." Silver levitated in the air and held Shadow as tight as he could as he flew steadily over the field and buildings.

"There's an emergency room...down there..." Shadow said as he pointed at the hospital entrance. They eventually landed and Silver walked him into the Emergency Room.

"Help guys! My friend needs help!" Silver shouted, and immediately doctors rushed over with a stretcher. Silver lifted Shadow on top of it and laid him down carefully.

"What have we got here?" One of the doctors asked.

"He was attacked by someone in the woods," Silver said. "He needs medical attention immediately. I don't know how long he's been out there."

"We need to clean him off and stitch up these wounds," Another doctor said. "By the looks of it he's suffered a lot of blood loss. Let's move him." The doctors pushed the stretcher out of the office and immediately got to work. Silver watched as the bleeding hedgehog was taken away. He had never seen anyone beaten up as bad as Shadow had been.

_"Don't worry Shadow,"_ Silver said to himself. _"You're gonna be okay. We'll find out who did this to you, just hang in there..."_

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><p>I figured I would add onto Shadow's character by giving him a special ability to see visions into the future. I mean, I rather give him <em>some<em> reason for keeping that green emerald with him all the time. .-.


	18. Chapter 18

Thank you to all of my lovely reviewers, viewers, followers, and favoriters! It means a lot to me! ^-^ And here, just because the last part was too short. :p

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><p>A few hours later, the doctors called Silver into the room where Shadow was kept. Shadow was wrapped heavily in gauze in some places. The sight saddened Silver, but he knew Shadow was capable of handling it.<p>

"We had to stitch him up in some places," the doctor explained. "But he responded very well to the treatment and he'll be fine. He may be here for a couple of days. We don't want to risk him getting anymore hurt than he already is."

"Thank you," Silver said to her, and then walked over to Shadow's bed. Shadow opened an eye when he felt Silver's presence. He had his hand over his stomach.

"You okay?" Silver asked him. Shadow let out a deep breath.

"Yeah," he said. "Just hurts a lot." Silver sat on the bed beside him. He remembered Shadow holding his stomach before, and seeing as though he was wrapped up heavily there, he didn't hesitate to ask questions.

"Your stomach hurt?" He asked, pointing out the obvious. Shadow nodded.

"That's where I got most of the stitches," he said. "There were several wounds in the shape of a circle." He put a wet rag over his eyes. "My memory is rough, but based on what I still DO remember from the incident is that the weapon looked like some sort of spiked hammer." He sighed.

"Well the good news is that you're okay," Silver told him. "It's a good thing I found you." Shadow let out a small chuckle.

"Yeah. Thanks for your help."

"What were you doing out there anyway? Why do you stay in the woods every night?" Silver remembered the incident that took place before the explosion at Base 0104 that Shadow had been lurking in the woods. Shadow sighed.

"I stay there for two reasons," he said.

"What's that?"

"I don't have anywhere else to go," Shadow explained, but lifted the rag up and stared at the ceiling.

"What's the second reason?" Silver asked. Shadow hesitated.

"You'll probably think I'm foolish if I tell you," he said. Silver shook his head.

"Tell me. I won't judge." Shadow looked at him.

"Well," he began. "A few months ago when I found my chaos emerald, I had a vision. It was pretty quick, but I remember seeing myself in those woods, and I saw this glowing light coming towards me. It reminded me of an angel." Shadow looked back up at the ceiling.

"I never left those woods because I was determined to find out what that glowing light was and where it came from. Every day I expect to see that glowing light, because although I saw it in a vision, I didn't quite know when it would happen. So instead, I stayed in those woods every night, waiting to see that glow."

"I don't know what to say," Silver replied. Shadow shook his head.

"It's alright," he said. "Maybe I'm only imagining it. I don't know what's real anymore." Silver thought for a moment before looking at him.

"I'm confused," he said. "If you can see visions of the future, how did you not predict your attack?" Shadow looked at him.

"I'm not God," he stated. "I can see certain visions but I can't predict everything. I'm the Ultimate Life form, but I can't even recall everything that happened in my own past. These visions I get probably work the same way. Maybe they're a figment of my imagination or maybe they are actually going to happen. I only recently started seeing these things, and I can only see them whenever I am in possession of a chaos emerald. And it's not like they're very clear either. One thing's for sure, I haven't forgotten a single one." Shadow sighed. "That must be _some_ sign that my memory is getting a little better." Silver rubbed Shadow's leg lightly.

"Well," he said. "Don't worry about it now. The only thing that matters is that you're okay. Don't let your visions stress you out. You need to relax." Shadow sighed as he put the rag over his eyes again.

"I don't know what relax means. I never seem to go a minute without something happening." Silver stood up and looked around.

"Well you're gonna have to learn now. I'll make sure these doctors won't let you out of their sight. You're injured and you're going to relax whether you like it or not. You're stubbornness to do whatever you want isn't going to work this time."

"Don't sweet talk me," Shadow replied. Silver smiled. Shadow always took an insult as a compliment regardless if it was harsh or not. He never got offended over anything, that being one of the reasons Silver admired him as a friend.

He let Shadow rest and decided to leave the hospital. He had already lost a few hours of time due to the incident, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from finding Blaze and Chase.

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><p>Location: Tails' workshop<p>

Year: 2014

Sonic went to Tails' workshop on his own as he remembered that revealing Chase to his friend could be risky and impact the future. Before Sonic arrived there, he had allowed Chase to stay hidden in a hotel suite in downtown Station Square. It was after that when Sonic made it to the workshop.

But the scene was brutal.

When Sonic arrived, he found the workshop to be heavily damaged. There was a large hole in the wall as if a wrecking ball had crashed into it, and most of Tails' machines were broken. He found his twin tailed fox friend close to tears as he collected shattered pieces of the X Tornado.

"Tails what happened?!" Sonic asked as he rushed over. "Are you okay?" Tails looked at him. He tried his hardest not to cry, but he failed to fight it as his eyes grew watery.

"I just went out to go buy some spare parts to the X Tornado," he explained. "And when I got back, I saw all of this. Someone broke into my workshop, and they also stole the chaos emerald I was holding for you."

"No way," Sonic said in disbelief. "There was a robbery at a jewelry store just earlier today. A chaos emerald was stolen there too." Tails began to cry.

"Everything I've worked so hard on is ruined Sonic!" He yelled as he wrapped his arms around the blue hedgehog. "All of that hard work for nothing! How could anyone be so cruel?! I just don't understand!"

"Hey c'mon Tails pull yourself together buddy. It's gonna be okay," Sonic told him. "I can help you build another Tornado, and we can even rebuild the workshop too." Tails pulled away and shook his head.

"You make it sound so easy Sonic," he said as wiped his eyes. "It's going to take some time to rebuild everything, even with some help. It's not just my machines and the X Tornado either. My computer is ruined and none of what was on there could be recovered. Everything is lost." He then got angry. "I bet this was all Eggman's doing!"

"Hey calm down now," Sonic said. "We don't know that. The robbery in Station Square showed no sign of any human DNA. They said they wiped the whole area clean. I'm not saying this wasn't Eggman's doing at all, but if it is, he can't be acting alone. There's something strange going on here, and we need to find out what it is."

"Well what can we do? It's not like I have the X Tornado anymore, so we can't go very far to find out where he's hiding at. He can be anywhere."

"You're right," Sonic said. "The best way to figure out who's behind all of this is to lure them in, meaning we need a chaos emerald as bait."

"But how are we going to find one? Whoever broke into my workshop managed to steal the only one I had. I can't track any down, especially since all of my planes are destroyed." Sonic smiled.

"That's never stopped us before!" He said. "Looks like we have to find those chaos emeralds the old fashioned way. You up for a scavenger hunt?" Tails shook his head.

"We can go tomorrow," he replied. "I think I'm going to stay here and clean things up a bit. I kinda want to be alone for the night." Sonic crossed his arms.

"But what if that robber comes back? Are you sure you really wanna risk staying here? You might get hurt." Tails didn't look at him. He just grabbed a broom and started sweeping.

"I can handle myself," he said. "It's just for one night. And it's not like I have anything left of value anyway."

"You sure?" Sonic asked. Tails nodded. Sonic then let out a sigh and turned around. "Alright then. Just be careful. I'll come see you first thing in the morning."

"Bye Sonic." Sonic was not convinced, but he ran off anyway to the direction of the city. He was headed straight to the suite to which Chase was staying at.

Chase was sitting on a couch flipping through channels on the TV. Sonic surprised him when he barged in through the door.

"Sonic what happened?" he asked.

"There's been another robbery," Sonic told him. "Tails' workshop is practically destroyed. It has to be the same person that robbed that jewelry store downtown, because they took the chaos emerald Tails had."

"Are you serious?" Chase asked. Sonic nodded.

"We gotta find out who this is. They can be really dangerous. Tails and I are going to start looking for a chaos emerald tomorrow. We're going to try and lure in the culprit. Will you be okay on your own?" Chase stood up and yawned.

"Yeah I'll be fine," he said. "Besides I have to go find Blaze. We have our own missions we need to take care of."

"Alright then," Sonic said as he walked out of the room. "Goodnight then buddy." Chase lie down and shut off the TV. He was physically tired, but his mind was very much awake.

He closed his eyes as he thought about the incident at Eggman's base and how he, Blaze, and Silver got separated when they arrived in this point in time. Although the thought of the depressing incident at Eggman's base bothered him, there was one thought that stood out to him: Where was Amy?


	19. Chapter 19

You guys must have a lot of questions. Here...let me add MORE on your list. :3

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><p>Location: Ruined Temple<p>

Year: 2014

Knuckles managed to follow Phoenix up until he found himself standing in front of the Temple in the forest. Phoenix was inside, but Knuckles was caught off guard. He had never seen the temple before, but he felt as if he was almost fated to find it.

"This place," he said. "Why does it seem so...familiar?" He walked inside and looked around. It was dark at first, but he eventually found the glow from the pool of gems, as well as Phoenix standing by the wall. He groaned.

"Don't run off like that again," He told her. "What are we doing here?" He noticed the writings on the wall. "What's that?" Phoenix placed her hand on the wall as if she were searching for a trigger.

"These are hieroglyphics slow poke," she said. "I feel an airway coming from the cracks. I think there's another room behind this." Knuckles got in his fighting stance.

"So we'll knock it down," he said, but when he punched the wall, not even a scratch was made. He did this for a couple seconds before looking at Phoenix, whom had been giving Knuckles a complete dead face.

"Well what are you standing there for?" He asked her. "You have iron fists. Maybe we both can knock it down."

"You really don't think do you?" She asked and then pointed at the hieroglyphics. "Can't you read?" Knuckles looked at them as he tried to make out their meanings.

"These seem so ancient," he said. "I don't think I can recall all of what it says." He noticed a specific line of hieroglyphics towards the bottom of the wall and kneeled down to see if he could read them.

"The Chosen One whom can unleash the power of the chaos will become the savior." Knuckles read it over again in his head before turning to Phoenix. "What does that even mean?" He looked over and saw an engraving in the wall in the shape of a gem.

"That must be the key to opening the door," he said. "But what does this mean by unleashing the power of the chaos?"

"Try a chaos emerald perhaps?" Phoenix suggested. They turned to look at the pool of gems. "Surely there's got to be one lying around in here somewhere."

"But would a chaos emerald fit that engraving?" Knuckles studied the gem shaped hole in the wall. "Hmm...it looks like it'd be big enough." He stood up and looked at the pool again. "But where do we even start looking?" Phoenix looked at him.

"Well aren't you a treasure hunter?" She asked him. "This should be easy for you. I mean...I'm sure you've tracked down chaos emeralds before haven't you?" Knuckles glared at her.

"Yeah maybe I have," he told her. "How did you know that?" Phoenix sighed and pushed him into the pool of gems.

"Never mind that now! Find an emerald first and ask questions later! We need to get through this door ya big lug, so hurry up!"

"Well aren't you going to at least help me out?" Knuckles asked. "And besides how do we know if we even find an emerald that it will unlock the door? It said only the Chosen One could get it to work."

"Maybe _you're_ the Chosen One. Has that thought occurred to you yet or are you really just that slow?" Knuckles groaned.

"You keep it up and I'll just leave you to go and do this yourself!" He yelled. "I don't see why you get to just stand there and push me around and act like you're superior than I am which by the way you're not!" Phoenix didn't pay any mind to him.

"Less talking, more hunting Knucklehead. We don't have all day. Just find the emerald and we'll figure this out." Knuckles groaned, but began to look around. There were so many different types of gems around, and he even remembered the ones that were outside.

"How can I figure out which one is the chaos emerald?" He asked. "It's hard to spot one in this mess. They all look the same."

"A chaos emerald is much more valuable in both beauty and power. You should be able to sense a powerful source since you've guarded the Master Emerald all this time. Just follow your gut." After some digging in the pool of gems, Knuckles decided to climb out.

"I don't think there's a chaos emerald in there," he said. "There's just hundreds of useless gemstones and gold." He looked around some more and climbed the walls to get a better view. He did this for a few minutes before heading towards the direction in which he came in.

"It's been a while since I've done any treasure hunting," he said. "Maybe I just lost my touch." He felt his foot hit something on the ground and looked down. It was the bag Rouge had thrown.

"What's this?" He picked up the bag and took out the gems one by one. He randomly threw the regular gems up until a yellow chaos emerald fell out.

"I found it," he said, and turned around and ran back over to Phoenix.

"Well it's about time," she said to him. "Do you think it's gonna work?" Knuckles studied the engraving.

"I'm not sure," he told her. "But we'll just have to see for ourselves." He carefully placed the emerald into the engraving, and the glow of the emerald glowed brighter. The hieroglyphics glowed on the wall, and the wall then lifted from the ground. They walked inside and tried to observe the path. The inside looked dark, but after squinting, they were able to see a whole other nation.

"What is this?" Knuckles asked in disbelief. Phoenix was also blown away by the scenery.

"It's like we entered a whole other world..." she said. Knuckles looked at her. He was confused.

"You led me here," he said to her. "How did you not know what this place looked like?" Phoenix hesitated and walked away. Knuckles followed, awaiting her answer.

"I've heard about it in a story when I was a little girl," she told him. "It was a story about a warrior that was destined to take the place of the leader of a thousand citizens." She looked at him. "I can't recall the ending though." Knuckles listened, but he was more focused on the mystery of this girl.

"Who are you Phoenix?" He asked. "If you didn't come from here then you certainly came from someplace else. Why did you bring me here? And why are you so determined to help me?" Phoenix stayed silent for a few seconds.

"I have my reasons," she told him. "I'm just a good person trying to help out."

"I feel like there is more to this than what you are saying," Knuckles said, becoming greatly agitated. "Why won't you tell me everything? What are you afraid of?"

"Shhhh!" Phoenix said as she stood quietly.

"No! I want answers! What are you-" Before Knuckles could say another word, Phoenix grabbed him and put her hand over his mouth. Knuckles continued to make noise, to which Phoenix violently shook him.

"I said shut up," she said quietly. "Listen." Knuckles pushed her hand off of him and stayed quiet. The sounds of chao singing filled the air. They looked around to locate the noise, and Phoenix nudged Knuckles' shoulder and pointed towards the direction in which it was coming from. There was a narrow trail through the trees, and the two followed closely together as they listened to the singing. They stopped as soon as the singing stopped.

"What happened?" Knuckles asked quietly. "They stopped singing." They heard rustling in the leaves and trees coming from all around them, and they instantly got in their fighting positions. After a few seconds, light blue and yellow chao popped out from the plants and stared at the two echidnas. They were silent.

One chao was brave enough to fly towards them and observe them, and once it looked into Knuckles' eyes, the chao became cheerful and signaled the others that they were okay. All of the chao surrounded them, but Knuckles received more of the attention, much to Phoenix's laughter.

"They must really like you," she teased. Knuckles could hardly find words to speak his own thoughts.

"Why are they so attracted to me for?" He asked. He became slightly bothered by all of the chao touching him. One sat on his head, two pulled on his arm, one hugged his leg, and the rest just invaded what was left of his personal space. The chao that was brave enough to go forward tried to speak.

"Chao chao chao chao chao chao chao!"

"I..." Knuckles slightly chuckled. "I don't know what you're saying little guy. I can't understand you." The chao pointed in another direction and flew that way. The rest of the chao followed.

"I think they want us to follow them," Phoenix said, and so they did. They walked deeper and deeper through the trees, and they witnessed a few glowing plants that grew along the path. It was a very astonishing and beautiful sight of nature.

"What is this place?" Knuckles asked.

"I don't know," Phoenix replied. Blue glowing particles were floating in the air the deeper they walked through the trees of the forest. "I feel a strong power close by though. Can you feel that?"

"Yeah I do." After a few minutes, they found themselves at the end of the forest, and the leading chao pointed to a stone building just up ahead.

"The chao led us here for a reason," Phoenix said. "Maybe they want us to go into that shrine." Knuckles looked at her.

"I'm not opposed to it," he said. "But do you think it's safe? I can sense something is there, but I can't make out if it is good or bad." Phoenix led the way.

"There's only one way to find out." She looked at him. "You'll protect me right?" Knuckles stood close to her side as they headed towards the shrine.

"Don't worry," he said. "I got your back." His reassurance brought a smile and sense of safety to Phoenix. She was glad to know that although they started out rough, Knuckles was getting use to her being around.

They walked inside of the shrine, but they stopped suddenly when they saw a black mass moving. Knuckles stood in front of Phoenix.

"Stay back," he told her, but Phoenix started laughing and ran towards it. "Wait Phoenix! I said stay back! You don't know what that thing is!"

"Sure she does," said a voice. It was coming from the figure. "And you do too." The figure walked in the other direction, but Knuckles ran after it.

"Come back here! Who are you?!" He asked. The shrine grew lighter as he followed the figure, and when he stopped, he saw a dark tannish echidna stand before him. Phoenix was laughing and stood by his side. The figure appeared familiar to Knuckles, but he never saw him before.

"You never witnessed me in this form," the echidna said. "But we have met before Knuckles. Although our meeting went rather sour, I assure you that all is different. I am glad my chao led you here, as we have much to talk about."

"Okay," Knuckles said. "But I still want to know who you are." The echidna let out a small laugh.

"Pardon my rudeness," he said, and then looked up at Knuckles. "I am Chaos."


	20. Chapter 20

This was my favorite part of Knuckles' story. This is a BIG revelation of his past AND destiny. Hope you enjoy! Reviews appreciated! ^^

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><p>"Chaos?" Knuckles asked in disbelief. "I don't understand. Weren't you just a liquid creature?" Chaos smiled.<p>

"You may want to find a seat Knuckles," he said. "We have a lot to discuss." Knuckles then pulled up a stool and did as Chaos asked.

"Alright Chaos," he said. "Talk."

"Well to start off Knuckles," he began. "You were right. I was a liquid creature. But you see, I wasn't always that way, as my original form so many years ago was just a tiny chao. We are quite similar Knuckles, in more ways than you think. Your destiny is to guard the Master Emerald, but that was once my mission too. The second I came into contact with the Master Emerald, I turned into a creature composed entirely out of chaos and water. There was no turning back for me, so I used my gift to bring fresh water to all the chao as well as protect my fellow friends.

Of course, such a great gift makes you a great target. Chief Pachacamac wanted to cease the power of the chaos emeralds I guarded. The stubborn old fool. He did not have any concern for his daughter or even the chao that made an attempt to warn him. I am a family man Knuckles. I possess a great deal of power, but that in no way means I won't use it to get revenge.

Awakened by Dr. Eggman, I vowed to follow his orders, but that was only because I knew I would get back my chaos emeralds in the process. As you may recall, once I gained those emeralds, I absorbed their energy and brought rage upon the world. I mean, I was trapped inside of that Master Emerald every day for years. How could someone stay calm after just losing their family, and not be able to have the power to do anything to help them? I needed an outlet.

But it was wrong of me to take it out on innocent people. Once Sonic defeated me and I took my form, I then realized that I was no different from Pachacamac. Tikal then returned with the rest of the chao I had protected, and together we disappeared, hoping to relocate ourselves into a better place.

But during the process, this was where we ended up, and it is also why I took the form of an echidna. We had no idea why, or how it happened. You see Knuckles; this place doesn't exist in the real world. This is merely just another dimension you were destined to find. It has a few similarities to Earth as we have trees, air, water, and just about anything regarding nature, but the only difference between Earth and here is that time flows slower than it does in the real world. Also, the longer you stay here, the more your life is extended by a few extra years. While time flows here slowly, we all still move at the same speed as everyone in the real world.

We didn't think much of it. We were able to stay young and live in a beautiful place in peace right? That was until we found Pachacamac and his men..."

"What?" Knuckles asked in disbelief. "But I thought you killed them!"

"Believe me," Chaos said. "I originally thought the same thing. But it turns out; I sent them into another dimension and brought them here. That is also why I remain in hiding here, along with the Princess." Chaos motioned Knuckles to follow him to a glass seal. Tikal was lying inside of it on a white mattress. She was in a deep sleep.

"That's...that girl..." Knuckles said as he thought back to the past. "She was the one that guided me." Chaos nodded.

"She has the heart of an angel," he said. "But you only remember her because she tried to guide you to stop me. You do not remember anything else. She wanted it that way, and it was for the best." Knuckles looked at him.

"What do you mean 'anything else'?" He asked. "What else was I supposed to know?" Chaos smiled.

"I suppose if there is any hope for us," Chaos said. "It would be best to grant you back your memory." He looked at Knuckles.

"You lived a past life, but your destiny wasn't the Master Emerald. You were part of the tribe years before Pachacamac wanted me. Your original destiny was to protect Tikal from harm. You were one of her top guardians, and you were surely her favorite. You were even the favorite of her Grandmother before she passed away.

But Pachacamac continued to be a stubborn old fool, charging into battle without second thoughts. I understood he meant well, but never to this day do I remember any being that was as foolish and stubborn as the chief." Chaos sighed. "He's a stupid one. He came into battle with the wrong people and that led to most of your race being wiped out. From what Tikal told me, you were the only one of her guardians that remained, but you were still severely hurt. Using the power from the emeralds, she sealed you into the present to be born again, but you would have no memory of her or what happened.

You were the top guardian. Should Pachacamac not have been able to take command of the tribe, Tikal would appoint you to the task. If there came a time when she would need to call out to you, she wouldn't hesitate to do the job.

That was when Pachacamac tried to cease the emeralds, but we both already went through that part. The visions she gave you were to guide you through the incident and to stop me from causing complete destruction upon the world. She knew you wouldn't remember, and she avoided any conversation that would lead you to remember what happened, being why she would run off all the time." Knuckles looked down at her.

"But...why didn't she want me to remember?" He asked. His tone of voice changed as if he felt hurt.

"I would guess it would be because it was such a tragedy that happened, she didn't think you'd miss what you didn't remember. And like I said, you were the top guardian. If there was one person she would be able to save, it was going to be you. Sealing you to another place in time to be born from the Master Emerald meant that should there be any need for a powerful leader, you would be the Chosen One." Chaos held a glowing ball of light in his hand.

"But don't take it from me," he said. "Let your own memory see what happened." The ball of light flew into Knuckles' head, and it was that was the moment where everything came back to him.

* * *

><p>Location: Mystic Ruins<p>

Year: Unknown

Knuckles and Tikal were on their way back to the shrine after returning from a festival held by Tikal's grandmother. They were both laughing and talking about all of the things they did.

"You surely didn't think twice about eating all of those goods Knuckles," Tikal said giggling. Knuckles laughed as he stuffed a dumpling into his mouth. "And you're STILL eating!"

"Hey come on!" He said. "I didn't want to be rude and pass on your Grandmother's cooking."

"Yes but you could have saved some for the rest of the clan! How many of those did you even stuff down? I mean did you even taste them?" Knuckles looked at her with a grin on his face.

"Yes, and they tasted delicious." He looked back at the festival. "As a matter of fact I should probably go and grab some more."

"Knuckles! You should not overstuff yourself! Knuckles!" Tikal held a hand out, but Knuckles ran off laughing.

"Try and stop me then!" He challenged.

"Knuckles!" She ran after him as they headed back towards the festival. She eventually caught up with Knuckles and pulled him back from the snack tables. They both were laughing.

"Must you stuff your face every chance you get?" She asked. "There is more to life than just food!"

"You mean like dancing?" Knuckles put his hands on her waist and spun her around in the air, and the two joined the rest of the echidnas as they danced to the music that was being played by the band. They ended up staying through the festival until the sky turned dark, and even then the party continued.

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><p>Location: Mystic Ruins<p>

Year: Unknown

It was around two in the morning, and most of the tribe had been asleep, all except Tikal and Knuckles, whom had stayed up and took their usual long walks around the land. They were returning from one of their walks and were heading towards the shrine.

"I appreciate you willing to join me at this hour," Tikal said to him. "You must be tired." Knuckles shook his head.

"I'm fine," he told her, before stopping and taking her hand into his. "Besides, it's my job to protect you. I won't let you go anywhere unless somebody is there by your side. I don't want you to get hurt, and I'm sure your father wouldn't approve of that either." His words made Tikal smile, but the touching moment didn't last long when they heard a loud rumbling noise coming from a mile away. It was loud enough to awaken the entire tribe.

"What is that?" Knuckles asked as the two ran to a hilltop. They saw an entire race of echidnas lined up. They were launching an attack on the tribe. A fireball was headed towards where Knuckles and Tikal stood.

"Let's go! Come on!" He said, and took her into his arms and ran off as fast as he could. Members of the tribe scattered, but Pachacamac and his warriors took their weapons and charged.

"It is the Nocturne Clan!" He said. "Those fools! How dare they launch an attack on my people! Kill them all!" Flames erupted all over as the attack led to a bloody battle. One of the Nocturne echidnas launched another fireball to which caused an explosion and Knuckles to drop Tikal. He was bleeding heavily and had numerous burns.

"No! Knuckles!" She rushed to his aid and held him in her arms. Her eyes flooded with tears. Knuckles was able to open his eyes and look up at her.

"Tikal..." He said faintly. "Run..."

"No Knuckles..." she said sobbing. "Don't die on me please!" Knuckles put his hand on her cheek.

"Don't cry," he said. "It was my job...to protect you...remember? This...was the risk...I was willing to take for you...I don't want you to get hurt..." He groaned as the pain in his wounds grew sharper from the large amount of blood he lost.

"You need to get out of here," he said. "Go...leave me..." But Tikal refused.

"No Knuckles," she said. "I will not let you die this way." She tried to pick him up in her arms and take him into the shrine where the emeralds were kept. The adrenaline gave her the strength to do it, and when she climbed the steps, she laid him down in front of the Master Emerald.

"Oh great chaos," she began. "Lend me your power. Grant me the power to save Knuckles and seal him into another point in time, for he will be our only hope for a new leader." The Master Emerald and the seven chaos emeralds began to glow. Knuckles was lifted into the air and his chest began to glow. His Cheshire symbol on his chest began to glow.

"He shall never remember what has happened here," she continued. "He will be born again, destined to protect the chaos and anyone left from the clan. He will become next in line for leader, and guide us in the right direction!" Knuckles had then disappeared in a flash of light, and once Tikal ended her prayer, she ran off to safety.

* * *

><p>Knuckles then remembered suddenly waking up on Angel Island. It was empty as it was today, and the emerald stood behind him intact and glowing as if it were never touched.<p>

* * *

><p>His flashbacks then came to an end and he looked down at Tikal. He placed his hand over the glass coffin, and for the first time, a tear fell from his eye.<p>

"What happened to her now then?" He asked Chaos. "Is she dead?" Chaos shook his head.

"I put her into an eternal sleep," he said. "She is very much alive, but I put her to sleep to prevent her from reliving what happened should Pachacamac find us. It was a tough point in time for her. The last thing I would want to see happen is for her to go through that again and maybe worse. Who knows what Pachacamac has in store for us both if he ever found us? That's why we hide here."

"But we can get out of here," Knuckles said. "We can take you guys out of here. You'll be safe with us." Chaos shook his head.

"You make it sound so easy," he said. "But if we just walk out of the void, we both would die on the spot. The only way to escape and stay alive is to escape through the power of the emeralds. Their power will allow us to keep the years we gained and keep us living in the present time."

"So until I find the chaos emeralds you're telling me I can't save you guys?" Knuckles asked. "We'll do it. I don't care how long it takes. I want to bring back my people."

"Yes, but what about Pachacamac? Those chaos emeralds are going to take the entire echidna race that remains here with you. Nobody is going to be left behind. If Pachacamac exists in the present time, history will only repeat itself, and this time the entire race would be wiped out for good." Chaos looked at Knuckles.

"This is why Tikal sealed you into the present. You are the Chosen One Knuckles. You even have the birthmark to prove it." He pointed at the white Cheshire symbol on Knuckles' chest.

"You are the one that can save us all. You must challenge Pachacamac for the position of Chief of the clan. Only you possess the ability and power to do it."

"But I can't do that alone," he said. "What about all of his men? Aren't you at least going to help me out?"

"I can only guide you to do so much," Chaos said. "But I wouldn't worry too much. You already have a sign of your success right in front of you." He looked at Phoenix.

"What?" Knuckles asked. Chaos smiled at him.

"I can also see the possibilities yet to be chosen from the future," Chaos explained. "This is Princess Phoenix." Phoenix laughed.

"I told ya dad," she said. "You still had family." She pointed to the Cheshire symbol on her black headband, to which was officially revealed as a different design for a crown.

"So...if Phoenix is my daughter, and she is a princess...that means..." Knuckles looked over Tikal. His cheeks slightly turned pink.

"Yes Knuckles," Chaos said. "The possibility in which Phoenix comes from determined that you not only succeeded in defeating Pachacamac, but you became King of the echidna race when you married Tikal. Now just because that is a possible future, it is up to you to make it happen. You must not make the wrong move or fail; otherwise we all will cease to exist. Revealing to you the future was a big risk, but I rather you know what could happen so you knew right away what the right actions for you to take were."

"Chaos was able to pull me out of an almost non-existing possibility so that I can travel back in time to guide you," Phoenix explained. "You wouldn't have been able to figure all of this out if someone didn't give you the right push. That, and Rouge stole the chaos emeralds over time, so even if you found the temple, there would be no way for you to unlock it."

"Unfortunately I don't have much power left," Chaos said. "I used whatever I had so I could bring Phoenix into another possibility to reason with Rouge and travel back in time to prevent her from stealing." Knuckles groaned.

"That bat," he said. "She never changes." He looked down at Tikal and then back at Chaos.

"I'll do it," he said. "I will fight for my people and I will become Chief of the clan. I won't let you down Chaos." Chaos smiled.

"I have faith in you Knuckles," he said. "Please be careful. Only challenge him when you are ready." Knuckles nodded and walked out of the shrine with Phoenix.

"We're going to need those chaos emeralds," he said. "We have to turn back for now. I don't want to mess this up." Phoenix nodded.

"We better get going then," she said. "We don't want to waste any more time."

"Right."

The two echidnas ran off in the direction they came from. Knuckles' heart was pounding and his mind was overwhelmed with all of the news, but he didn't stop to forget what Chaos told him. He continued to think it all over as inspiration and allowed it to bring him determination, for if he defeated the Chief and saved the clan, he would become King of the Echidna race.


	21. Chapter 21

Sorry for the wait. Writer's block really sucks and school is such a pain as of late. But here's another part. :)

* * *

><p>Location: Station Square<p>

Year: 2014

Blaze and Chase were walking down the street and discussed the events that took place. He told her about the robberies that occurred.

"First the jewelry shop, and then Tails' workshop," He explained. "From what Sonic told me, Tails was pretty devastated."

"The good news out of this is that we still have OUR emeralds," Blaze told him. "It is very important we do not mix them up with the present ones. Who knows what kind of reaction it'll cause." They walked passed an alleyway, but they failed to notice someone had been watching.

"We really need to find Silver," Blaze said. "I'm getting nervous about this. Something just doesn't seem right. It's almost a sense of deja vu." Chase stopped walking and hesitated. He looked down at his feet and scratched his head. He had an overwhelming sense of worry.

"You don't think we made things worse do you?" He asked. He then looked up at her. "I mean, wasn't this what happened when we traveled in time before? The emeralds being stolen I mean? That's what caused us to change the future."

"Hey," Blaze put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. We are going to fix this. We are going to save your mom and dad, and we are certainly going to save you. Don't be scared. We're just going to do what we came here to do and go back to the future in which we came from."

"I knew something was strange about her..." said a voice, before popping out from the shadows and yelling, "You guys are travelers!" Blaze and Chase turned around.

"Espio! What are you doing spying on us?!" Blaze asked. She and Chase quickly pulled him into the alleyway. They didn't want anyone to overhear them.

"What are you guys doing here? Don't you guys know how risky time travel is?" Espio asked.

"Shhh! Keep your voice down," Blaze looked around to make sure nobody else was nearby. "Look, it is extremely important that nobody knows we are from the future," she said. "We are here to stop a terrible accident from happening."

"Okay..." He said. "And what is that exactly?" He looked over at Chase. "And you are?" Chase rolled his eyes. Nothing was going according to plan and at this point he was ready to give up.

"I'm Chase. I'm Sonic's future son." Espio smirked.

"Sonic? Have a kid?" He asked. "That's something I never thought I'd hear. Who's the lady he married?"

"Hey!" Blaze said. "We are already in a deep hole with this as it is!" She sighed. "Look, since you know about us, I guess we can use your help."

"Okay?" Espio said, very well interested. "How can I?" Blaze explained in great detail about the incident that occurred and why she, Chase, and Silver were there. She told him of how he can help with finding Silver and keeping Dr. Eggman from getting his hands on any chaos emeralds.

"If we fail, Chase would cease to exist, and Sonic may cease to do so as well," she concluded. "We only have one shot to make things right again."

"I'd like to help but the fact you told me I was one of the victims that died well-"

"There's no need to worry," she interrupted. "You are not gonna die. We got your back, and we can really use the help. Please?" Espio crossed his arms as he stared at Blaze. He then glanced at Chase, and eventually smiled and nodded.

"Alright," he said. "If we spare each other's lives, then there shouldn't be any problem. So you want me to find a chaos emerald?"

"We need to prevent Eggman from getting his hands on them, so it would be great if you found one," Blaze told him. "Chase and I will keep searching for Silver. With the five of us working together, we should be able to prevent that incident."

"No problem," Espio said. "I'll get right to it then. And don't worry. Your secret is safe with me." He waved and ran off. Blaze let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm sure glad he handled that well," she said before turning to Chase. "Think we can trust him?" They started walking together.

"We were able to before," he said. "Hopefully all goes well." Blaze put her hand on his back and gave a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry," she told him. "With Sonic, Espio, Silver, and us on the watch, Eggman shouldn't be able to gain ANY of those chaos emeralds."

* * *

><p>Location: The Mystic Dimension<p>

Year: Unknown

Knuckles and Phoenix were running straight through the forest in which the chao led them through. They were searching for the entrance to which they arrived, but they were having trouble finding the path.

"Where are those chao?" Knuckles asked as he pushed some leaves and vines out of his way. "They could have at least led us back!"

"This path seems familiar," Phoenix said. "Just follow me and stay close." They continued running, but Knuckles lost patience along the way.

"It didn't take us this long to find Chaos," he said. "Are you sure you know where you're going? Do you even see anything?"

"Up ahead! The door!" They were a few feet away from reaching the entrance, but they saw a shadowy figure standing in front it, holding the glowing yellow chaos emerald.

"Hey!" Knuckles yelled. "Put that back!" The two echidnas tried to run faster, but they could only push themselves so much. The door was closing on them.

"Knuckles the door!" Phoenix shouted. "We won't make it out!"

"Who is that?!" By the time they reached the door, it had already been shut. Knuckles and Phoenix tried to punch and kick at it, but not even a chip came off of the stone. Phoenix leaned against it and sunk to the floor.

"It's no use," she said. "Without a chaos emerald in that keyhole, there's no way we can get through here." Knuckles didn't listen. He continued to hit the door with all of his might and strength.

"No!" He yelled. "We need those chaos emeralds! We have to try!" He banged on the stone door. "I gotta find the emeralds!" He hit the door again. "I have to save my people!" He nearly lost it as he banged on the door repeatedly. "I have to save Tikal and my family!" Phoenix grabbed him from behind and tried to stop him.

"Knuckles stop it!" She yelled. "Face it, we're trapped here! There's nothing we can do to escape! You're going to hurt yourself!" Knuckles struggled to free himself from her grasp.

"No!" He yelled. "My people need me! We gotta try!"

"Knuckles enough! Pull yourself together!" Phoenix shouted. She could see his eyes watering up as he tried to escape from her grasp. "You're going to have to fight Pachacamac without the chaos emeralds!"

"Let me go! Get the hell off of me!" Finally after struggling, Phoenix let him go and he fell on his knees. He was panting heavily.

"I'm gonna lose my family and my future," he said. His tone of voice then went back to being angry. "I wanna know who the hell that was! That was our chaos emerald and now we're stuck here! How are we gonna get out now?!" Phoenix shook her head.

"I don't know," She said. She turned around and observed the scenery. "We don't have a choice Knuckles. We're going to have to find Pachacamac and his men and fight him ourselves. I mean, we may not be able to escape, but the least we can do now is to make sure you become Chief. We can make at least _some_ part of the future exist." Knuckles banged his fists on the ground.

"I know," he said. "But the Master Emerald is still on Angel Island with no one to protect it. And to fight Pachacamac and his men free handedly? I can't do it. We needed those chaos emeralds so I could be strong enough to do so, and now we're trapped here without a single one." He stood up and brushed off the dirt on his gloves.

"Hey," Phoenix said with a small smile. "You still have me. I can fight with you. Who says you have to do it alone?" Knuckles looked at her.

"I did," He said. "You're my daughter. I won't risk putting you in anymore danger. Losing the chance to get the chaos emeralds put us in enough trouble as it is. I'm not going to screw this up some more."

"I don't mean to make you feel worse," she said as she crossed her arms. "But what exact difference is it going to make if I fight or not? I mean I don't belong here anyway, and we don't have the chaos emeralds. That just reduced the chances of the right future happening some more. At least if I fight with you, we can still save what we can of it." Knuckles shook his head.

"No. Chaos said that it was all up to me to make the future happen. It was based entirely off of my own actions. I'm going to fight Pachacamac without the emeralds and free my people. We may have to live here, but at least it's something if I win." He walked ahead.

"What happens if you fail then?" Phoenix asked. "Don't you want to see me and Tikal again?" Knuckles kept walking.

"Of course I do. But that is strictly up to me to make that happen. The future depends on me. Not you." Phoenix watched as he walked away from her. She soon followed behind him, unsure about whether or not to break the silence that stood between them.

They walked for a few long hours, by now reaching a huge body of water in the open. They decided to rest for the time being. They had a campfire set up and by now Knuckles had fallen asleep. Phoenix was still awake, and she thought back to an old childhood memory she had with her parents.

* * *

><p>Location: Angel Island<p>

Year: Unknown

"Phoenix?" Tikal called out as she walked downstairs to the front of the stone castle. She spotted one of royal guardians and made her way over to him. He was lifting stone bricks and laying them out with the rest of the other men.

"Have you seen Knuckles and Phoenix? I cannot find them anywhere," she said.

"The King and his Daughter?" he asked and pointed to the side of the stone building. "I spotted them in the back just a bit ago. Would you like me to lead you to them your majesty?"

"I am fine," she said smiling. "Thank you." She looked at all of the men. "You guys are working too hard! Tonight I shall prepare a feast for all! I thank all of you for your hard work and participation for helping us build our brand new home!" All of the men cheered and clapped for Tikal.

She walked towards the back of the building and spotted Knuckles and a little Phoenix standing by the backdoor.

"That's my girl!" Knuckles said. They were holding their own bows and arrows and shooting at targets. Phoenix was dressed in the armor of a black knight. Tikal ran over as quickly as she could.

"Knuckles!" She yelled. "For Chaos sake! Phoenix is only six years old! She should not be playing with weapons of any sort!" She crossed her arms, but Knuckles scratched his head and smiled.

"I'm watching her," he said. "Come on, I have her protected."

"Mommy look how far I can shoot!" Phoenix said as she prepared another arrow, but she ended up putting it backwards to which Tikal quickly reacted and took it out of her hands.

"That's enough young lady," she said. "You are a growing princess and I think it is time we start teaching you how to act like one." Phoenix put the black armor knight's helmet on her head and looked up at her mom.

"A princess?" she asked. "What kind of weapons does that come with?" The statement only made Tikal glare at Knuckles, whom couldn't help but laugh as he took the little red echidna in his arms. Although Tikal wasn't fond of the use of weapons, she couldn't help but smile.

"You are your father's daughter that's for sure." She said. "You have his looks and his fighting personality." Knuckles held Phoenix to his cheek.

"Do we really look alike?" He grinned. Phoenix looked at him before grinning with him. The sight only made Tikal giggle.

"Most definitely," she said. She opened the door and went inside. "Come on. I'll make some lunch for you two. And Knuckles please get her out of that armor and into something comfortable!"

"Alright alright," He said before turning to Phoenix. "Still want me to teach you how to wrestle?" He whispered to her. Phoenix nodded, much to Knuckles' laughter. He ran up the stairs with her in his arms.

"I knew you would."

* * *

><p>Her flashback ended and she smiled as she fell asleep.<p>

* * *

><p>Location: Silver Valley<p>

Year: 2014

Sonic and Tails were on top of a mountain as they searched for a chaos emerald. Sonic was looking down from a cliff at the water below, while Tails searched around the waterfall.

"Anything?" He asked. Tails flew up towards him.

"Nothing," He said. "How can we be sure if there is even an emerald here Sonic? For all we know, we could be wasting time trying to find out."

"Since when did you think negative?" Sonic asked him. "I trust my own instinct on this one. I know there's an emerald around here somewhere. I can feel it in my gut."

"Are you sure that's not those ten chili dogs you had for lunch?" Tails asked, giving Sonic a dead faced look. Sonic hesitated before pounding his chest and letting out a large burp.

"Uh...yeah maybe," he said. "But I know there's an emerald here! We just gotta keep looking!" Tails sighed. He wasn't in much of a mood to do anything after what happened.

"What happens if we don't find an emerald Sonic? I mean think about it. It's obvious this was Eggman's doing. Should we even consider reasonable doubt about that after all these years? Wouldn't it just be easier to find his base rather than an emerald at this point?" Sonic slid down a dirt hill. He spotted a cave and walked inside.

"Sonic? Are you listening to me?" Tails asked. He followed right behind him. The cave was moist and there was tiny stream of water they were walking in.

"Sonic it's too dark to see in here. What are you doing?"

"I want to know where this leads too," he said. "Who says we can't have some adventure while looking for a chaos emerald?" Tails annoyingly sighed.

"Why do I even bother?" He said under his breath.

Flying just over the mountain was the Eggman in his Eggmobile. Eggman smiled deviously as he prepared to launch an attack.

"I got them right where I want them," He said to himself. Sonic and Tails weren't able to hear Eggman lurking around at the top of the cave, but they did hear a strange beeping sound a few feet away.

"What is that?" Tails asked as he stood close to Sonic.

"Shhh," Sonic said as he tracked down the sound, but when he saw the source he immediately reacted. "It's a bomb! Let's get out of here!" Sonic pushed Tails the other way and the two began running. The beeping was getting louder. Sonic led the way and of course Tails followed behind, only he clearly wasn't as fast as the blue hedgehog.

"Sonic wait for me!" He called, but he ended up tripping and falling flat on his face. When he looked at what he fell over, he spotted a light blue chaos emerald, almost buried under the dirt.

"Oh no," he said as he tried digging it out. "There was an emerald right here and it was so covered up we hardly noticed. I got to get this to Sonic." Sonic had been outside the entrance by now and sighed in relief.

"Man that was close," he said. "Tails you alright buddy? Tails?" He turned around, seeing that his twin tailed fox friend wasn't in sight. "Tails! Aww no! Hold on pal! I'm coming!" He ran back inside the cave and looked left from right to locate his friend. The beeping grew louder and faster, almost to twenty beeps per second. He eventually spotted the yellow fox struggling to get the emerald out of the rocks and dirt.

"Tails!" He yelled. He grabbed him from behind. "What are you insane?! We gotta get out of here!" Tails yanked the emerald one last time before it finally popped out of the ground.

"Sonic look! I found a chaos emerald!" He said, but Sonic took his hand and ran as fast as he could out of there. By now the bomb had exploded, and Sonic was now running away from a blast of flames that followed right behind him. Eventually they made it out, but the blast made them trip over their feet. They were breathing heavily.

"Tails don't ever put your life in danger like that again!" Sonic told him. Tails brushed off the dirt on his body and held up the emerald.

"But Sonic," he said. "You were right. There was an emerald here!"

"Tails I'm glad you found the emerald but I rather you have left it behind than risk getting killed buddy," Sonic told him. "No emerald is worth losing my best friend." He smiled at him.

"Thanks Sonic," Tails said with a smile. He looked around. "But I'm confused. Where did that bomb come from anyway?" Sonic looked up and groaned.

"I think I know," he said. "Eggman followed us here. He must have planted that bomb while we were inside."

"But Sonic," Tails said. "How could he have put the bomb inside if he was out here? There's no way he could have snuck out without us knowing."

"Did you see anyone else in there by any chance?" Sonic asked. Tails shook his head.

"Nothing."

"Hmm, well one thing's for sure," Sonic said with a smile. "If Eggman is behind this, he'll come back for our chaos emerald, and we'll settle this face to face." He looked at his friend. "Come on pal, I think we've had enough adventure for today. We ought to go back home and make sure this baby is safe."

"Right."

The two got up and headed for the city. Meanwhile, Eggman watched as they ran off and slammed on the keyboard of his Eggmobile.

"Darn it!" He yelled before pressing a button on his communicator. "What was that for?! I had them where I wanted them! Why did you plant that bomb there? I need them alive, not dead!"

"Relax doctor," the voice on the other end of the call said. "I know exactly what I am doing. I got you four chaos emeralds already. We have five now, and the hedgehog has one. I think it's time we reach out to them and invite them for a little meeting at the old base."

"Very well," Eggman said. "I'll pick you up. Don't move. You had better know what you're doing or else you're history. I don't want any more surprises. Is that clear?"

"Crystal," said the voice. Eggman grinned.

"This is the best idea I ever had," he said to himself. "I should have done this a long time ago. Sonic won't know what hit him this time, and once I get all the chaos emeralds I will at last have the power to ruin Sonic and build my Eggman Empire."

* * *

><p>Sorry it's so long. Again, I forced my way through writer's block and combined many parts so if it sucks I am terribly sorry. On the plus side, Shadow's coming up in the next part. :D<p> 


	22. Chapter 22

Hey guys I just wanted to point out that there are clues hidden within the story that explain some events that you may not understand. For example, in the middle of this chapter, Blaze mentions a possible Time Distortion which will come up later in the story. Be sure you keep in mind all of the events that have happened because everything in the story is connected. :)

* * *

><p>Location: Station Square Hospital<p>

Year: 2014

Shadow was in a peaceful deep sleep for the first time in years. All of his time was spent on missions or just waiting in the woods to see if his vision would come true. He started dreaming. The dream started out nice, mainly involving Maria and the times they spent together on Space Colony Ark, but it later transitioned to the vision he saw in the woods.

"Maria? Is that you?" He asked as the light approached him. He began to see a face within the light, but before he could make out whom it was, his dream transitioned again. Shadow then was able to see himself sleeping in the hospital room, and his soul watched him for a few seconds and then wandered around the building.

He passed by a room with an extremely sick little dark-haired girl, and watched the doctors shock her to bring her back to life. It was a saddening image, but he felt drawn to the scene.

The doctors continued to shock her, and he continued to watch before noticing the girl standing next to him. She was a soul took, and she watched the struggles the doctors went through trying to revive her.

"I guess they don't want to believe that it was my time," she said. They saw the doctor talking to the parents, and they watched as the mother fell to her knees screaming and crying as the father put his arms around her.

"Why are you still here?" Shadow asked her. "Why are you watching all of this? Shouldn't you be in a better place?"

"I didn't want to leave without seeing them one last time," the little girl told him. She walked through the wall to the room her parents were in. Shadow watched her wrap her small arms around her mother and father through the glass.

"I love you mommy and daddy," she said. "Don't worry about me. We will meet again."

After a minute or two, she let them go and walked back to Shadow. "Can you take me out of here?" She asked him. "I don't know the way out." She put her small arm up to hold Shadow's hand, and the two walked away from the scene and through the halls.

"You don't seem sad," Shadow said to her. "Why?"

"I know this isn't the end," she said. "I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye. I know they couldn't hear or see me, but within time I'm sure I'll find them again." Shadow looked at her confused.

"But how? You're dead."

"You don't believe in reincarnation?" she asked. By now they reached the outside. "We'll meet again, only I'll take form of something else."

"And what might that be?" Shadow asked her. The little girl looked up at him. She had big brown eyes, which Shadow could almost feel himself being sucked into.

"Mommy always called me her beautiful butterfly," she said. "You take a guess." She lifted into the sunlight and disappeared into the sky. Shadow wasn't sure what to make out of what happened, but he felt the need to return back to his body.

He was quick to reach the room, and the moment he arrived, he witnessed himself shaking and trying to yell for help. At that point, he began to have a terrifying nightmare.

He saw himself in the woods in the same area where his attacker had left him. He was remembering the details of what had happened.

"Who is that?" He called out while looking around. He was suddenly hit on the head by a branch. He fell to his knees and put his hands on his quills. The attacker failed to hit him a second time when Shadow managed to dodge and throw a chaos spear.

"Show yourself you coward!" He yelled. The attacker easily blended in with the darkness, but moments later, he was kicked in the head. He slid face down among the dirt.

"Hand me that chaos emerald or else," The voice said. Shadow managed to raise himself to his knees.

"Or else what?" He turned around. "I'm not giving you a damn thing."

"Well since you want to play it this way..." The attacker took out a large weapon and swung at Shadow, but Shadow managed to jump before it hit him. He got in the back of his attacker and grabbed their arms from behind.

"Drop it!" He yelled. "Drop it dammit!" The moonlight shined through the leaves of the trees, revealing the identity of who it was. Shadow was in shock.

"What the?" Before he could react, the attacker escaped his grasp and swung their weapon into Shadow's stomach. The strength into the hit sent Shadow flying into the tree, causing him to drop his green chaos emerald. He was covered in dirt and a lot of blood. The attacker picked up the emerald and shook their head.

"Ultimate Life form huh?" They asked. "You were barely considered a warm up." They started laughing. "Man, you guys just make this way too easy." They ran away from the scene and left Shadow there.

Shadow then woke up and screamed. The nightmare caused him to feel pain in his stomach and he immediately sat up in his bed breathing heavily.

"I gotta find Silver," He said in a choking voice. He managed to stand up and limped through the doors. He went unnoticed by the doctors.

"I have to warn him," he said. "If I don't find him or Sonic soon, they'll be in great danger." He had his hand on his stomach. It hurt him to even stand up let alone walk, but he urged himself to fight it.

Eventually, he made it inside the elevator and slammed the first floor button to shut the doors. Small blood spots began to show through his bandages, and he felt the stinging sensation from his wounds, but once the elevator doors opened, he managed to find the strength to run out.

Sonic and Tails were walking along the streets of the city. They were discussing where the emerald should be best kept.

"I had an emerald for you, but someone destroyed my workshop and stole it," Tails told him. "It's better that you keep it." Sonic was holding the emerald.

"I guess you make a good point," he said. "Alright then, I'll hold onto it. But what about you? Don't you need help with your new workshop?" Tails shook his head.

"Not now. I'll let you know if I do. For now, I think I have it under control." Tails looked up at the sky as he prepared to fly away, but Sonic put his hand on his shoulder.

"Hey hold on," Sonic said to him. "I know you're still upset about it buddy, but the last thing I want is for you to feel like you need to face this alone. You're my brother Tails. Anything you have on your mind, you can always tell me. I want to help you." Tails smiled.

"I know you do Sonic," he said. "But I think it's time I learned how to handle myself don't you think? We've always worked side by side together, but we're getting older now. I think it's time I learn how to solve problems on my own. This doesn't mean we can't be friends, because of course I am gonna need you. But for now, I want to test myself and see if I'm ready to be on my own." Sonic smiled.

"Gee pal," He said as he put his hand behind his head. "You're really growing up. Well...I guess we all are aren't we?" He pulled Tails in for a hug. It was unexpected by the yellow fox, but he didn't hesitate to hug his hedgehog friend back. He tried not to get teary eyed.

"I can't believe it," Sonic said, still hugging the fox. "Time goes by just as fast as I do sometimes doesn't it? I remember when me, you, and Knuckles set off to fight Metal Sonic. When was that? Eleven years ago?" He pulled away from Tails.

"Yeah! That was when we went to Seaside Hill, the Rail Canyon, and..."

"Bingo Highway!" They said together. They started to laugh.

"Bingo Highway was the best." Sonic looked at Tails. "But yeah, I remember when we always said we had all the time in the world to do things like that again. And now look at us. Before we know it we'll have other responsibilities to worry about." He poked Tails in his arm. "And YOU are already there aren't ya?" Tails smiled.

"I guess I am," he said. "But don't worry Sonic. Once I finish my workshop and rebuild some of my planes, you and I will go on more adventures. I promise." Sonic chuckled.

"Alright then buddy," he said. "I'll see you later."

"Bye Sonic!" After their goodbyes, Tails flew off into the sky. Sonic watched him go until he was out of sight. Once he was gone, he started walking in the direction to downtown Station Square. He looked down at the emerald.

"Responsibilities," He said to himself. "That'll be me soon. There's no going back once this is all over. My only option is to keep moving forward."

"Sonic!"

"Chase?" Sonic saw Chase and Blaze waving and didn't hesitate to run over to them.

"Hey guys," Sonic said. "Guess what I got!" He showed him the light blue chaos emerald. The two smiled.

"That's great!" Chase said. "Now we should be able to track down the others! Right Blaze?" Blaze thought for a moment.

"Yeah," she said. "We ran into Espio some time ago. He's out looking for an emerald now too. If we are going to track down the rest of them, we need to start immediately. We've wasted too much time here, and we still haven't found Silver."

"Actually I had a different plan," Sonic said to her.

"Really?" Blaze asked. She crossed her arms. "And what might that be?"

"We had a little visit from a certain egg-head scientist. He followed me and Tails to the caves at Silver Valley and a bomb was there waiting for us. Luckily we got out safely with the emerald, but I think if we want the rest of those emeralds we had better see what emeralds he has of his own. The last thing we want to do is waste more time right?" Blaze nodded.

"So then we'll hold onto this baby until he comes back for it. Only then we can settle this."

"What do you think Blaze? Should we listen to Sonic?" Chase asked. Blaze hesitated.

"Alright," she said. "Just as long as you know what you're doing. Like I said, we've been here for too long. I'm afraid we caused a time distortion of some sort."

"What do you mean Blaze?" Chase asked. "From the looks of it, Sonic and Espio are the only ones that know."

"Yes, but we do not belong here," she explained. "We could have possibly changed somebody else's past without even realizing it."

"Calm down," Sonic said to her. "I understand that you're worried, but everything is in good hands. We are going to fix this and you guys will go back to where you belong in no time." His smile was enough to reassure them both. They nodded to Sonic's plan, and the three parted.

Silver stood on top of a building when he noticed three figures flying on extreme gear. He didn't have a good feeling about them.

"I'm guessing that me, Chase, and Blaze aren't the only ones here," he said. "I better follow those guys and find out what's going on here." He jumped off the building and landed perfectly on his feet.

"Silver!" Silver turned around and saw Shadow limping over to him.

"Shadow?!" He said in shock. He ran over to the injured hedgehog. "Shadow what do you think you're doing? Why are you not in the hospital?"

"I remember who did it..." Shadow said faintly. "We need to warn Sonic." Silver supported Shadow, as the injured hedgehog couldn't find the strength to stand up on his own. He sighed.

"You need to go back to the hospital Shadow," he said. "You clearly aren't strong enough to be out here. I'm taking you back. And don't follow me."

"No!" Shadow yelled. His voice cracked out of the stinging sensation he was getting from pulling himself out of Silver's grasp. "Take me with you."

"What? Are you insane? You can barely walk! I'm taking you back to the hospital where you belong!" He attempted to pull Shadow next to him, but Shadow managed to push him away.

"Oh to hell with that place!" The black hedgehog yelled. "I'm not going back there! Forget it!"

"Why are you being so stubborn Shadow? I am doing this because I care about you!" Shadow was kneeling before looking back at Silver.

"If I didn't have a reason to go with you, I wouldn't be here," he said faintly. "I can't stay there. I have a strong feeling that something bad is going to happen, and I refuse to allow it to do so. Damn the hospital and to hell with my condition. The future is depending on us!" Silver wasn't sure what to say. All he could do was stare.

The two became distracted when they saw the three flying figures in the air. They eventually disappeared near the woods. Shadow groaned at the sense of trouble.

"Who are they?" He asked.

"I don't know," Silver said. "But I can guarantee that they don't belong here." He took out his light blue chaos emerald. It was glowing dramatically. Shadow looked back at him.

"Is that a chaos emerald?" He asked. Silver nodded.

"Yes, but this is the emerald in which we used to travel through time. It doesn't belong here, but it is detecting another emerald from nearby and I think those people might have one."

"How do we know if it is from our time period? We can't mix them together can we?" Silver shook his head.

"No," he said. "These emeralds already cause enough trouble once they are brought together. If we brought a future emerald and a present emerald together, we don't know what disaster that'll cause. For now we need to keep them separate." He put the emerald away. "We need to follow those figures and find out who they are and what they're doing here." He looked at Shadow. "Are you sure you can handle this?" Shadow managed to get to his feet.

"Yeah," he said. "I've had worse. Let's go." He was prepared to start running, but Silver grabbed him by the arms.

"Who said we were walking?" He asked with a smile before levitating in the air. "If you're gonna tag along then it's only best to carry you isn't it?" Shadow glared at him.

"Thanks," he said sarcastically. "Because there's no sense in saving the dignity that I have left." Silver laughed.

"I knew you'd see it my way."

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><p>Do you think you guys can guess who is caught in the Time Distortion? It's not too early to throw clues together. There are actually major clues from the very beginning of the story. ;)<p> 


	23. Chapter 23

And now to resume with our two lovely bats! :D

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><p>Location: Mystic Cave Zone<p>

Year: 2014

Rouge and Future Rouge were walking through the mossy pathways of the Mystic Cave. They were coming back from where Rouge stayed and discussed about how they can make their future better.

"So what exactly do I have to do?" Rouge asked. "I don't want to be hated by the whole world let alone be seen looking like _that_." Future Rouge glared at her.

"I hope you realize that your insults go both ways considering we are the same person," she said. "And if you expect to have a better future, I hope you realize that you can't steal anymore."

"Yeah yeah," Rouge said annoyed. Future Rouge pulled out a blue chaos emerald and stared at it. Seeing the emerald made Rouge slightly angry.

"Hey! You said no stealing!" She yelled. "What are you doing with that precious gem then? Seems to me like you're keeping treasure all to yourself!"

"No," Future Rouge told her. She looked at her present self. "This was the emerald I used to come back here with. I admit I did steal this, but I took it from the Babylon Rogues to come here and fix things up." She looked at the emerald. "But I'm worried that they might have found out and they are looking from me. You can't get away with robbing a robber."

"How will they know where to track you?" Rouge asked. Future Rouge hesitated.

"Well Wave is a bit of a computer genius," she said. "She has all of Babylon Garden covered with security."

"Seems to me like she's more than just a 'bit' of a genius," Rouge said. Future Rouge sighed.

"I'm sure she caught me stealing the emerald, but I'm more concerned that they found out where I am. I was going to use her time machine that she had already built, but I found another source to bring me here."

"And just what might that be?" Rouge asked. Future Rouge hesitated. She didn't want to mention that she came to this time zone with Phoenix with the help of Chaos. She shook her head.

"I shouldn't say," she said. "I don't want to alter the timeline too much." Rouge put her hands on her hips.

"Well if you didn't use the time machine then there's no way they could have tracked you here. No need to be so worried." Both were caught off guard when they noticed the emerald glowing brightly.

"It's detecting another emerald nearby," Future Rouge said. "But how can that be?" They both stuck close to each other and looked around. They could hear the sounds of flying objects surrounding them.

"Stay close," Future Rouge said. "And get ready to attack. I have a bad feeling about this."

Suddenly, three figures lowered themselves to the ground on extreme gear. They were all dressed in black. Their faces revealed a green hawk, purple swallow, and a gray albatross, and that only pointed to one group: The Babylon Rogues.

"Well," Jet said as he pushed up his black sunglasses. "If it isn't our friend Rouge the Bat." He started laughing. "It's a little odd to be running into you," He walked towards her, now becoming angry, "In the year 2014!"

"Jet, I can explain!" Future Rouge said. Jet put his arm around her.

"I thought you were our best friend," he said. "You wanted to be a Rogue so badly and we took you under our wings and brought you in on all the glory. And yet, you steal from us?" Future Rouge pushed him away.

"How did you guys even find me?" She asked, now becoming angry and annoyed. Wave smirked.

"What?" She asked. "Do you think we're stupid? As if we'd leave you home with all the treasure to yourself. Next time check your clothes before running off. You never know what might be built into them."

"What?" Future Rouge looked down and she noticed her belt blinking. Jet laughed.

"Yeah," He said. "There's that, and this baby led us right to you." He pulled out a green chaos emerald. "I think it's time you gave back what was rightfully ours."

"Hey!" Rouge yelled. "Those emeralds don't belong to you guys anyway! You ought to return them back where you found them you crooks!" Jet looked at her, and then at Future Rouge. He put his hands behind his back and walked over to Rouge.

"I'm guessing you heard about what you've become then haven't you?" He asked. "Well, I'm sure she didn't tell you about this part." He snapped his fingers. "Storm! Grab the girls and let's go!"

"Right boss!" Storm cracked his knuckles and walked over to them, but both Rouges flew up in the air and kicked him in the stomach. Jet grew angry.

"You really want to fight then?" He asked. "You asked for it! Both of you are dead!" He took out a gun and began shooting, but the bats were too fast for him. Wave flew towards them and managed to push Future Rouge into the wall of the cave.

"Rouge!" Present Rouge yelled. "You let her go!" She grabbed onto Wave, but Wave managed to head-butt Rouge, causing her to fall to the ground. Jet stood above her and pointed his gun at her head.

"Oh Rouge," he said with a smirk. "I thought we could have a whole Bonnie and Clyde thing going on between us, but you can thank yourself for ruining the chance." Rouge looked at him.

"Believe me," she said. "I can't thank her enough." Jet groaned and put his finger on the trigger, but before he could pull it, he was suddenly frozen by a sense of powerful energy.

"You back off Babylon Rogues!" It was Silver. "It's not polite to put your hands on a lady!" He sent Jet flying into a wall.

"Storm!" Wave yelled. "Crush him!" Storm got up and charged.

"I'm on it!" He said. He put his fists up. "Let's settle this face to fist!" Shadow stepped out from behind Silver.

"Not if I can help it." He held a bolt of energy. "Chaos spear!" He threw the bolt into Storm and knocked him into the ground. Wave dropped Future Rouge and flew on over alongside Jet to aid Storm. Silver and Shadow got in their fighting stance.

"I think it's time we evened the odds a bit," Shadow said. He then looked at Rouge. "Hurry and go save yourself. We got these clowns." Rouge smiled.

"Thank you guys!" She said, and flew over to her future self.

"Alright Babylon Rogues!" Silver yelled. "It's time to put an end to your crimes right now!"

"To hell with these two! Rogues kill these two bastards!" Jet yelled. The Rogues charged towards the two hedgehogs and at this point, an all-out brawl began.

"Are you okay?" Rouge asked her future self. Future Rouge rubbed her head.

"Yeah," she said. "Just a headache." Rouge picked her up. "But what about those guys? They need our help. We need to do something."

"How about I grab their gear and you can see if you can take back their emerald?"

"Sounds like a plan. Let's go!" The two Rouges separated. Rouge grabbed the extreme gear and Future Rouge joined in on the fight.

"Need a third party member boys?" She asked. Silver looked at her.

"Grab their weapons!" He said as he shoved Jet into the wall of the cave. "We can handle the rest!" Wave and Storm were shooting their guns in Silver's direction, but Silver caught each bullet using the power of his telekinesis and sent the bullets shooting back at them. One bullet was headed in Shadow's direction, which he managed to dodge just in time.

"Hey watch where you're throwing those things control freak!" He yelled. "I'm not trying to go back to the hospital again!"

"Sorry!"

"Got you!" Wave took out a blade and swung it towards Silver. Silver carefully tried to dodge.

"Get back here!" She yelled. She had Silver cornered and threw her blade towards him. It missed when Shadow threw a Chaos Spear at it and then at her. Future Rouge took whatever weapons were on Wave before flying to the other Rogues.

"This isn't going to work!" Silver said. "No matter what we do this fight is going nowhere! They aren't from here so it's not like we can take them to prison!"

"You got another plan then?" Shadow asked as he was now in a fist fight with Jet. Silver thought for a moment, before being interrupted by a charging Storm. He fought him off by throwing energy balls at him.

"The only thing I can think of is going back to the future and bringing them to the police there! But I can't get sent back there before finishing my job here! We'll need chaos control and hope for the best!" Future Rouge overheard him.

"Chaos control?" She asked, and took out her emerald. "Looks like they're going to need this a lot more than I do."

"Silver that's it!" Shadow said. "We can use chaos control and send them back! How many emeralds do you have?"

"I have two currently!" Silver said as he put an energy field to block Storm. Future Rouge flew towards them.

"You mean three!" She said, and threw the blue emerald to Shadow. "Here! You guys need it a lot more than I do!" Shadow caught the emerald.

"Those guys have chaos emeralds!" Jet yelled. "Get them!" Silver noticed the green emerald inside of Jet's pocket.

"Shadow he's got another one! With four chaos emeralds we will have enough power to send them directly back where they came from!" He looked at Future Rouge. "Distract them while Shadow and I use chaos control!"

"Got it!" Future Rouge then jumped in the middle of the fight as she took on Storm. Silver ran towards Shadow and the two teamed up as they both began to take turns throwing hits to Jet. Jet eventually lost his chaos emerald, but Wave came flying over to grab it.

"Don't you even think about it!" She said, before Future Rouge spin kicked her in the back of her head. She smiled.

"Already did sunshine," she replied. She grabbed the chaos emerald and threw it towards Silver. "Catch!"

"Got it!" He said. "Now see if you can fight them off for a few seconds while Shadow and I do chaos control! They can't intervene! Go!" He looked at Shadow and tossed the green one to him. "Ready?" Shadow nodded. They both closed their eyes and concentrated on the emeralds.

"Chaos Control!" They said together, and held up their emeralds as a portal began to form. Silver looked at Shadow.

"Now we need to get them in there! This should take them back where they came from and hopefully right into prison." Silver said to him, and the two joined the fight again. Rouge watched as the three battled it out.

"Do you guys need this?" She asked, holding up the Babylon Rogues' gear.

"Toss them over! Now!" Shadow told her, and managed to catch the Type-J. Silver caught Type-S and Future Rouge caught Type-W. All three were headed towards the portal with the Rogues following behind them.

"They're getting away with our gear!" Jet yelled. Shadow, Silver, and Future Rouge threw the gear into the portal, but the Babylon Rogues stopped in their tracks before they could get sucked in. They were panting heavily.

"It's gone," Wave said holding her chest. "How are we going to get around now?" Storm looked at her.

"More like how are we going to get home?" He asked, but suddenly Shadow, Silver, and Future Rouge kicked them into the portal.

"Home is the least of your problems Babylon Rogues!" Silver said with a grin. The portal closed, and just as it was planned, the Babylon Rogues went back to their own point in time, except they fell right into the office of the Chief of Police. Silver and Shadow high fived each other.

"Thank you for helping us," Future Rouge said with a smile, but her smile faded when Silver held up his glowing hand towards her.

"Now you hold on just a minute," He said. "You were a part of the Babylon Rogues too. Why shouldn't we have sent you back?" Rouge flew down towards them.

"Hold on!" She said. "She came here to stop me from becoming one of them! She was trying to help me have a better future." Shadow looked at both bats.

"Two Rouges'?" He asked. He sighed. "Double the trouble." He crossed his arms. "How can we be so sure to trust you two?"

"If I truly wanted all of their treasure then none of this would have even happened," Future Rouge explained. "Besides, I never would have given you my chaos emerald. But I won't need it to go home anymore because by the time I'm finished here, the future in which I came from will no longer exist. Either way I'm going to disappear."

"Fine," Silver said. "You two just be careful and stay out of trouble." The two bats flew into the air.

"Thanks for your help!" Future Rouge said as she winked at Silver. They disappeared into the darkness. After waving, Silver looked over to Shadow and noticed blood stains seeping through his bandages.

"Agh Shadow," he said, almost as if he felt the pain from a distance. "Jeez doesn't that bother you? You need to rest. You're still bleeding."

"A little blood loss never killed anyone," he replied. Silver was about to respond, but shook his head and changed the subject.

"So now we have four future chaos emeralds," he said, looking down at the emeralds he and Shadow were holding. "This means we have all seven."

"How so?" Shadow asked. Silver smiled.

"Because Blaze and Chase have three, and we have the remaining four." They put their emeralds away. "But the problem with this is that we need to stop Dr. Eggman from getting the emeralds in this point in time. So pretty much, these are kind of worthless."

"Well that was a pleasant waste of time," Shadow said as he crossed his arms. "So if we can't mix up these chaos emeralds and the present emeralds then how exactly are we going to find the present ones? It's not like I have a present one anymore."

"Do you know somebody that does?" Silver asked. Shadow thought for a moment.

"I suppose we can ask Sonic," He suggested. "But I can't guarantee anything."

"Alright then," Silver said. "Let's get out of here." He picked Shadow up and flew out of the cave. They made a beeline in the direction to Station Square.

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><p>Thanks for reading guys! ^^<p> 


	24. Chapter 24

Hey guys. Sorry it's so short. I promise you that action is coming up shortly though. ^^;

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><p>Espio wasn't far from the cave and hid behind a tree to prevent him from being seen. He heard all of the commotion from afar, and carefully went into the opposite direction to escape. At this point he was lost and completely unsure of what to do at this point.<p>

"Where can I even find a chaos emerald?" He asked himself. "I've never done this before. How can I be so sure on where to begin?" He walked ahead and looked around. There was no way of knowing where he was at. Station Square was far and the Mystic Cave was out of sight.

"Where am I anyway?" He felt his foot hit something. "What's this?" He picked up what looked like a rusted metal arm. He studied it for a few seconds.

"This looks like it belonged to a robot of some sort," He said. He continued to walk. The more he kept walking, the more he started noticing more metal parts in the grass.

"There are robot parts and a whole bunch of junk around here. But where did they come from?" His surroundings were beginning to change as the ground became a bunch of dirt rather than grass, and the trees began to disappear the further he walked. He found himself at a wide open area with garbage all over the place.

"Looks like some kind of junk yard," He said. He began to cough. The air was practically polluted.

"But what is it doing so far from town? And where are all of the trucks?" He caught a glimpse of a building just up ahead and he didn't hesitate to run towards it. He stopped when he noticed that the building was practically abandoned and slightly in ruin.

"It seems like nobody has been here for years." He felt his foot hit something again and he looked down to pick it up.

"This is the head to one of Eggman's old Egg pawns," He looked up at the building and dropped the head. "This must be Eggman's old base then." He walked inside of the building and looked around. He caught sight of a glowing object buried under the ruins.

"Looks like I found the jackpot." He kneeled down and dug out a white emerald. He started to laugh.

"This was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be!" It was at that moment, he heard the sound of someone coming, and he didn't hesitate to camouflage himself into the wall.

"Yeash it's a bit of a dump!" It was Eggman. "Are you sure you want to fight Sonic in this mess? The least we could do is fix this place up."

"What's it matter anyway?" The figure next to him asked. "It's not like this place matters that much anymore. I say we bring Sonic here, show that hedgehog what he's dealing with, and just bring down this place right on top of him."

"Your love for revenge satisfies me to such an extent, but we don't want Sonic dead," Eggman explained. "After all, who would I have to do my dirty work while I lay back and enjoy the glory of my Eggman Empire?"

"And just what exactly am I getting out of that once the Empire is achieved?"

"I'll put you in charge of punishments. How's that? Should Sonic fail to follow any orders then you can be the one to make him suffer as much as you like." He cleared his throat. "But let's not get too excited. He still owes us that chaos emerald. We need that chaos emerald more than anything if we expect there to be an Eggman Empire at all. We only need two more emeralds and the Eggman Empire will be right in the palm of our hands." He started laughing evilly.

_"They have five chaos emeralds,"_ Espio thought to himself. _"I better get out of here and tell Sonic."_When the two were out of sight, Espio dashed out of the base as fast as he could.

"Blaze said that Eggman wasn't supposed to have any of the emeralds and now he already has five. If we don't do something soon, the future will repeat itself and we'll all die!"

Silver and Shadow were to the halfway point to Station Square. Shadow closed his eyes and began shaking.

"Shadow! What's wrong?!" Silver asked. Shadow then started screaming and struggling, causing Silver to lose his grip and drop Shadow. Silver started to panic.

"Oh my Chaos somebody do something!" He yelled, before face-palming and remembering that he could fly. He flew down to the falling hedgehog and caught him. He decided to land and laid Shadow on the ground.

"Shadow! What's wrong? Talk to me!" Shadow put his hands on his head, still screaming as if somebody was stabbing him. This lasted for a few seconds before he opened his eyes and started breathing heavily.

"Shadow?" Silver asked, unsure of what to do. Shadow looked up at him.

"We need to go back, now!" He said.

"Why? What's going on?"

"I had another vision..." He said. "I saw the Doctor, and I saw him obtain the chaos emeralds. He's at the old abandoned base."

"Base 0103? Are you sure?" Silver asked. Shadow nodded.

"Yes. We need to get back the emeralds he has. He's got five of them. I saw it. And then I saw him obtain the last two." He managed to stand on his feet. He put a hand on his stomach, still showing signs that he wasn't fully healing.

"Alright Shadow," Silver said as he picked up the hedgehog. "Looks like it's up to us to save the future. Hold on!" Silver levitated into the air and immediately shot through the sky. They flew off so quickly, that they failed to see the Eggmobile heading towards Station Square.


	25. Chapter 25

FINALLY! The part you have all been waiting for! :D

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><p>Location: Station Square<p>

Year: 2014

Sonic, Blaze, and Chase were walking down the streets of Station Square. Sonic couldn't help but ask a lot of questions regarding the future in which they came from, much to Blaze's annoyance.

"So what am I doing there?" He asked. "Do I still save the day? Do I have a job?" Blaze was grinding her teeth. He would not stop asking questions.

"How do I look anyway? Am I lighter? Bluer?"

"Sonic," Blaze said quite annoyed. "For the last time, we can't tell you!" Sonic shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm just asking," he said. He then looked at Chase. "Chase buddy do I look the same in the future?" Blaze turned to Sonic and put her hands on her hips.

"Hey! Don't bring your son into this!" She said. Chase kept quiet the entire walk, but he couldn't help but laugh here and there regarding Blaze's annoyance. He was surprised he didn't see her light up a flame in her paws.

They became distracted when they noticed a flying object in the sky. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared.

"What's that?" Chase asked. Sonic's mood transitioned to anger.

"Looks like the Eggmobile," He said. "Bet he's back for the chaos emerald, just as we planned." At that moment, missiles shot from the Eggmobile towards Sonic, but Sonic being quick on his feet easily dodged. The Eggmobile then turned around and flew off in the opposite direction.

"That thing is getting away!" Blaze said. Sonic groaned.

"Talk about a hit and run! Let's get him!" The three ran in the direction that the Eggmobile was traveling. Chase looked up at it and became skeptical.

"Has he always tried hitting you and fleeing Sonic?" He asked.

"No," Sonic said. "In fact he stayed to battle it out, even if he didn't stand a chance. Why he's trying to get away I'm not quite sure, but he's going to regret that that's for sure." The Eggmobile began to accelerate, but that didn't stop the trio from following.

"Blaze grab my hand!" Chase said to her. "You gotta keep up!" He held his hand out to her as they ran. Sonic offered his as well.

"Take my hand too," He told her. "We're just about to end this!" She then held both of their hands, to which Sonic and Chase began to accelerate to their average speed. They saw the Eggmobile disappear into the base.

"We're almost there!" Chase said. They were running so fast, they failed to notice Espio running the other way. Espio stopped when he felt the rush of wind.

"That was Sonic," he said. "I gotta warn him before it's too late."

Eventually Sonic, Blaze, and Chase made it into the building, but it was too dark to spot the Eggmobile.

"It's gone!" Chase said in disbelief. "But where did it go? It couldn't have just disappeared."

"Something's not right here," Blaze said. "I feel uneasy about this. Stay close together." They walked side by side through the ruined hallway. They looked around for the Eggmobile or even Eggman.

"There's nothing here," Blaze said, "Just a bunch of junk and ruins." She felt something touch her.

"Blaze!"

"Gah!" Blaze quickly turned around and threw a fireball at whatever touched her. She stopped when she saw Espio panicking.

"Watch it hothead!" Espio said. "Jeez what's your problem?!"

"Don't do that!" She said angrily. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"You nearly set me on fire!" He told her, before being shushed by Sonic and Chase.

"Come on guys be quiet," Sonic said. They walked forward and found themselves in a room. There was a large flat screen monitor on the wall.

"This place is all ruins, but the screen looks so new," Chase said. Espio groaned.

"That's what I came here to talk to you guys about," He said. "I saw Dr. Eggman here with-"

"Sonic!" The four turned around when they saw Silver and Shadow coming towards them.

"Silver!" Blaze and Chase said happily, before noticing he was holding a badly injured Shadow.

"Shadow!" Sonic said in shock. "What happened to you?"

"I'll tell you what," he said. "I was attacked in the woods the other night by-" Suddenly, the screen turned on and Eggman was seen laughing.

"Sonic," he said grinning. "I'm glad to see you! Oh?" He looked at the others. "And I see you brought a couple of friends! I assume you got the special delivery I sent you?"

"Yeah I did!" Sonic said angrily. "I see that you not only fled, but now you're hiding behind a screen! Why don't you come on out and we'll settle this face to face you coward!" Eggman laughed.

"You really believe that fleeing was my doing? You ought to pay more attention hedgehog. I've been here the whole time!"

"Oh really? So if you were here than whom else could it have possibly been in the Eggmobile? One of your robots again?" Eggman shook his head.

"Oh no Sonic," he said. "I recently paired up alongside a NEW partner, someone much more of value, but of course after all these years, you never took the time to see the good and value in which they truly had."

"What?" Sonic asked. "What are you talking about?" Eggman laughed.

"Oh Sonic, you're awfully fast on your feet, but you're slow when it comes to paying attention. But don't let ME rant on you about it. Why don't you ask her?" The camera turned to the person. Sonic felt his heart nearly stop.

Right on the screen, wearing black boots, a dark gray dress with Eggman's trademark on it, and oddly grayish fur, was none other than the new transformation of Amy Rose. Chase, Blaze, and Silver gasped.

"The future..." Blaze said. "It...it happened all over again..."

"Amy..." Sonic said. Amy laughed.

"I have been dying to get back at you the moment you hurt me," she said. "For years I had to deal with your constant hit and runs and today Sonic the Hedgehog marks the end of it all! Never had I done anything to hurt you, but all you ever did was hurt me and leave me in the dust. And now here we are Sonic!

You better prepare for the biggest fight of your life pal, because I want everything you got! You VS Me! One on one!"

"Is she serious?" Shadow asked annoyingly. The others looked at Sonic, whom by the looks of it, was weakening on the spot.

"Amy stop it!" He said. "Get a hold of yourself! Do you even know who you're talking too? It's me Amy!" Eggman put his hand on Amy's shoulder.

"In time my dear," he said. "You will get the revenge you so desperately desire." He looked back at Sonic. "Isn't she just precious?"

"Eggman what have you DONE to her?!" Sonic yelled. "You've gone way too far this time!" He banged his fists on the wall. "When I get my hands on you I'm gonna-"

"You'll do nothing because you'll be too weak," He said. He then pulled out the five emeralds.

"No way..." Sonic said in disbelief.

"Oh yes," Eggman said smiling. "Amy sure knows how to get me the perfect gifts. This doll here is quite the helper. I never obtained the emeralds so quickly before. Makes me wonder just how great she'll be once I build my Eggman Empire." Sonic couldn't take his eyes off Amy. He nearly lost it.

"Amy please!" Sonic told her. "It's me, Sonic! Don't do this!"

"Give it up Sonic," Eggman said. "She doesn't need you anymore. She works for me now." Sonic shook his head and became angry again.

"You may have Amy and a couple chaos emeralds, but without the other two, you're still nothing!" Sonic yelled. Eggman grinned as Amy crossed her arms.

"Oh Sonic," he said. "You should be careful about the things you say. At any moment now, I'll make you eat those words." He pressed a red button, to which the base began to shake rapidly. Eggman laughed. "Arise Scorpion, and show that hedgehog just whom he's dealing with!" The screen cut off and the floor began to open as a large robot Scorpion rose from the ground. Everyone got in their fighting stance.

"Alright guys!" Sonic said. "Let's show Eggman just what we're made of! This thing doesn't stand a chance with the six of us working together!" The robot set its targets.

"Targets acquired," it said. "Launching Electro-Beam." Scorpion shot out electric bolts towards them, but all of them scattered. Silver, using his telekinesis, gathered large building pieces and flew up above the robot.

"I'll show you! Hah!" He threw the ruins at the robot, but the damage was very slim. The robot used its tail and swung it towards Silver, throwing him into a wall. That easily angered Blaze.

"Hey!" She looked at the robot as her paws lit up with flames. "Nobody hurts my friends unless they can get through me!" She jumped up and threw fireballs at the robot. This was followed by a Chaos Spear from Shadow and throwing knives from Espio.

"We gotta find its weak point!" Espio said. "Nothing of what we're doing is working!" The robot turned its attention on the emerald Espio was holding.

"Chaos emerald spotted. Preparing to attack."

"Oh no you don't!" Sonic turned into a spinning ball of spikes and tried to break his way through the metal of the robot, but the robot used an electric force field and sent Sonic sliding into the ground. Sonic dropped the light blue emerald.

"Emerald detected."

"No!" Chase yelled as he tried to run to get it, but the robot got a hold of it before he did. Chase ran to Sonic's aid. "Sonic! It took your emerald! What do we do?!"

"We're gonna destroy it!" Sonic said, forcing himself to his feet. "We can't let that thing take our emeralds!"

"Sonic!" Espio yelled. He was being held against the wall by the robot. "Catch!" He attempted to throw the emerald, but the emerald didn't go much of a distance. Blaze managed to grab the emerald, but the robot used a beam to grab it along with Blaze.

"Ahhh! Come on let go! Silver do something!" She yelled.

"I'm on it!" Silver said as he gathered more ruins and threw them at the robot. "Let her go, now!" But Scorpion's beam didn't die out. The robot reacted by rapidly shaking Blaze and throwing her into a wall.

"Blaze are you alright?" Shadow asked as he and Chase aided her. She nodded her head.

"Yeah," she said with one eye open. "Just a painful headache."

"The emerald!" Espio yelled.

"I see it!" Sonic said as he ran to grab it, but by a split second, the robot got a hold of it first and swung its tail at him and Espio. "NO!"

At this moment, Scorpion powered down, and the Eggmobile rose out of it with Eggman and Amy, whom held both of the emeralds.

"Thanks for the chaos emeralds," Amy said waving. "The pleasure was all yours."

"Goodbye Sonic!" Eggman said. "See you during the rise of the Eggman Empire!" The two laughed as a laser shot through the ceiling while the Eggmobile escaped.

"Amy no!" Sonic yelled, but by now they had already disappeared. It was silent for a moment as everyone looked at each other.

"That Eggman has ALL seven chaos emeralds guys..." Chase said. Sonic looked at him, Silver, and Blaze.

"Well?" He asked. "You know how this ends don't you? Why don't you tell us what to do?" Silver and Blaze looked at each other.

"Sonic," Silver said. "We knew how it all went down, but this happened a lot faster than it did from where we came from. I don't think the same plan we used to stop this before will work again."

"Not only that," Blaze added. "But this happened way too early. You guys were ten years older when this happened. We traveled too far, and I'm just worried that we won't be strong enough. I mean if we fail again...there's no changing that..."

"So you're telling me to just give up?" Sonic asked. "Is that it?"

"Oh all of you just shut up," Shadow interrupted. "The Doctor has all seven emeralds including Amy. There's no time for this emotional junk. You guys want to know what we're going to do? Well I'll tell you then! We are going to stop moping around like a bunch of PUNKS and we are going to find the Doctor and end this once and for all!"

"But Shadow," Espio said. "We don't know where Eggman is even headed."

"Not only that," Blaze interrupted. "But the events that occurred in the time where we came from most likely won't be the same. For all we know, Eggman's new base may not be where it was ten years from now. It could be anywhere." Sonic sighed and shook his head as he looked at her.

"Well can you tell us anything? Do you know somewhere he might be at and how to get there? Anything that'll give us clues to where he and Amy are?" He asked. Blaze thought for moment.

"Hey aren't you guys forgetting something?" Chase asked with a smile. Everyone looked at him.

"What?" Sonic asked him. Chase took out his emerald, much to Sonic's surprise. "How did you get the emerald?"

"That's right!" Silver said as he took out his emeralds. "Blaze I forgot to tell you! Shadow and I obtained the last two emeralds before we got separated. We have all of them now." Blaze took out her emeralds.

"But how can that be?" She asked. Shadow took out the other two and threw them to her and Silver.

"Long story," he said. "But what matters is we have them."

"You guys had chaos emeralds this whole time?" Sonic asked. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"It was important we didn't mix these with the present emeralds," Chase told him. "And being that we had a battle against Eggman, he could have taken these instead. Then we would never tell the difference. If they got mixed up, who knows what could have happened."

"Maybe we can find out where he's at," Silver looked at Shadow.

"What are you looking at me for?" He asked. Silver held out his emeralds.

"You said you could see visions into the future right?" He asked.

"Yeah, but not at any moment I want. They just occur."

"Maybe with ALL seven chaos emeralds you can see where Dr. Eggman and Amy are headed." Silver pulled Blaze and Chase over to him. "Try it. If you can have visions randomly with just one chaos emerald, then you may be able to see anything whenever you want when you have all seven. It's worth a shot." They gave Shadow the emeralds.

"Uh," Shadow looked down at the rainbow of gems he held in his arms. "I don't exactly know how to see the future if I try to. The visions just occur whenever they want. I'm not sure that I can-agh!" He started to shake as the emeralds glowed bright. He shut his eyes and began to scream.

"What's happening to him?" Sonic asked as he went over, but he was stopped by Silver whom had been smiling.

"He's having a vision," he said. "It's working." Shadow's eyes shot open as all the emeralds began to react with each other. For a brief second, he was in his super form, but the next moment he fell to his knees breathing heavily. Sonic and Silver ran to his side and tried helping him up.

"Shadow!" Sonic said. "Shadow are you okay?"

"What did you see?" Silver asked him. Shadow looked up.

"I saw a castle-like structure," he said. "They were waiting for us inside. He actually did it."

"Did what?" Sonic asked him. Shadow managed to stand up on his feet and put his hand on his stomach.

"He built the Eggman Empire," he told him. "After all these years of saying he would, he actually did it." He looked at Silver. "The location was on an entirely different continent though. It's smaller than the ones where Apotos, Mazuri, and Chun-nan are and what not, but it certainly wasn't small enough to be considered an island."

"I know where that is," Sonic said. "That used to be Eggmanland a few years ago when he summoned Dark Gaia. Looks like we'll be stepping out of our own comfort zone guys, because if Eggman truly rebuilt that place into something much more dangerous and we fail, we'll lose everything. We cannot let that happen." Everyone nodded.

"So how do we get there?" Espio asked. "We don't have Tails or a car or a boat for transportation. What else can we do?" Sonic, Silver, and Shadow smiled.

"What we do best," Shadow said as he held up three emeralds. Sonic and Silver took the other four.

"We use Chaos Control!" Sonic said. "Come on guys, all together! Let's go stop Eggman and save the future!"

"On my mark," Silver said smiling. "Three...two...one..."

"CHAOS CONTROL!"

After a flash of light, everyone vanished into thin air. The heroes were traveling through a blue portal. They stuck close together and smiled at one another. This was the final moment they were waiting for. At last, the Eggman Empire awaited them after all these years, and although the battle will be rough, they still had a glimmer of hope and faith. This marked the final battle between Sonic and Eggman, and mercy would be the last thing each of them would get.


	26. Chapter 26

Continuing with the Knuckles Saga! :D

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><p>Location: The Mystic Dimension<p>

Time: Unknown

"Knuckles! Knuckles wake up!" Phoenix said as she rapidly shook the sleeping echidna. Knuckles managed to open an eye.

"What is it?" He asked. He could see the concern in her face and sat up. "What's the matter?"

"I saw them," she said. "I saw a group of echidnas headed towards a village of some sort. I think Pachacamac might be there too." She stood up and brushed the dirt off her armor. "Should we follow them or should we go back to Chaos?" Knuckles stood up and stretched.

"The least we can do is check out this village," he said. "Besides, if anything goes wrong there, we don't want to abandon the village and lead them straight to Chaos." They started walking. "I have to see this for myself anyway. I haven't seen a group of people like me for who knows how long."

They continued to walk the distance until they reached a stone arch. Knuckles stared at the entrance, but his silence left Phoenix in concern.

"Knuckles?" She asked. "Are you alright?" Knuckles waited a few seconds before he could answer.

"It's just..." He put his hand on his chest. "This is practically my family...my heart is beating so fast and I just...don't know what to expect..."

"There's only one way to find out I guess," Phoenix said. "You go in first." Knuckles didn't hesitate to walk in. Around them were small houses built in either wood or stone, and echidnas were seen walking about. There were different families with children that were seen, Pachacamac's warriors doing their own thing, shop keepers, and many more.

"There's so many of us..." Knuckles said as he looked around. "I'm speechless..."

"Knuckles look over there." Phoenix pointed to a large stone pillar. They both stopped walking and stared.

"That looks like the same pillar from where the Master Emerald was kept on Angel Island years ago," Knuckles said. "But why would they build another one here?" They turned around and saw an old red echidna talking to two warriors.

"Pachacamac..." Knuckles said. "That's actually him."

"Wonder what they're talking about?" Phoenix said, before being pulled down by Knuckles to stay hidden.

"We heard singing chao in the forests earlier, but we could not find the source," One warrior said.

"Have you gone mad?" Pachacamac asked. "There should be no chao here. We are the only kind to exist in this world as far as I know. I demand you fools to return back to those woods and keep your eyes open. It could be a signal for a trap by any remaining Nocturne soldiers."

"But Chief-"

"Away with you now! Go! If any Nocturne soldier is seen I demand you to kill them without hesitation! They are the enemy!"

Phoenix gasped. "That's not Nocturne, that's Chaos!" She whispered to Knuckles. "What if they find him?"

"Don't worry, his chao won't let that happen," he said. "But he stated to kill any remaining Nocturne soldiers. This means there are Nocturne echidnas here too."

"But how can that be? Weren't they still trapped in the Twilight Cage? How could they have escaped and came here?"

"I'm not sure, but we need to gather up some information first." He sighed. "I think I am going to talk to Pachacamac."

"What? Are you insane?" Phoenix asked. Knuckles looked at her.

"Maybe I can reason with him so we won't have to fight. I won't be able to live with myself if I murdered my wife's father."

"I'm surprised that someone that's been known for fighting would actually attempt to play peacemaker. I've heard stories from your friends' dad. They tell me you're a complete sucker."

"It's worth a try," Knuckles said to her. "Besides if anything goes wrong, a fight will occur anyway. There's no right time to do it, so it's better to just do it now before we lose him."

"I'll go follow the soldiers then," Phoenix said. "I can't let them find Chaos. Chaos is too weak to fight for himself anymore."

"Are you sure you can handle it? I think it's too dangerous. I don't want you getting hurt."

"I clearly made it this far. What's the worst that can happen?" Knuckles groaned for a moment before sighing.

"Fine. Keep an eye on Chaos. If anything goes wrong, I want you to come back here as fast as you can no matter what." He stood up. "I'm going to talk to Pachacamac now. Be careful."

"I will." Phoenix smiled before running off. Knuckles stared at Pachacamac for a few moments before sighing.

"Here goes nothing..." Before Knuckles could step out, a mother and two children stared wide eyed at Knuckles. Knuckles looked at them, unsure of how to react.

"Staring is impolite don't you know that?" He asked.

"The Chosen One..." said one of the kids.

"Huh?"

"It is the Chosen One," said the mother in disbelief. "The legend has come true..." The family walked away slowly, but continued to stare. Knuckles scratched his head. He remembered the imprint on door, but he shook his head and looked back at Pachacamac.

"I have a feeling that's going to come back and haunt me later," he said. "No matter, I better get this over with." He walked towards Pachacamac. "Chief?"

"Hmm?" Pachacamac turned around. "Who calls my name?" His eyes grew wide with disbelief. Knuckles kneeled down to him and put his hand on his chest.

"Chief Pachacamac, I apologize to disturb you at this time, but I hope that you would give me the time to have a word with you sir."

"Knuckles..." Pachacamac said. "My boy, you are here! And alive! I thought you were dead. I haven't seen you in forever!" Knuckles stood up.

"It has been a while hasn't it?" He asked. "Listen, I want to talk to you when you have the time." Pachacamac chuckled.

"Ah but this is a good enough time as ever! I cannot believe my eyes that it is truly you!" He walked beside Knuckles towards the pillar. "What would you like to discuss?"

"I suppose I should ask what happened while I was gone Chief," Knuckles said, trying not to jump into the subject that he had to kill him.

"That Chaos creature had sent us here many years back," he said. "We have been living here ever since, and you would think we would be at peace wouldn't you? That was until we discovered the Nocturne Clan some time ago. We have killed and imprisoned many soldiers to protect my people, but we are still keeping watch of the area for more."

"You have Nocturne prisoners?" Knuckles asked. "How many?"

"Ha...has to be much less than a hundred. Thirsty my boy?" He took Knuckles inside a small hut. "Please make yourself at home." He lit a few candles to brighten the room and gave Knuckles a mug of water. Knuckles sat down on a pillow along with Pachacamac.

"Thank you," Knuckles said. He wasn't sure of how to react to Pachacamac's kindness. To be safe, he didn't drink the water. "Can I ask about the pillar for the Master Emerald? If it isn't here, why was it built?"

"How do you know it isn't here?" Pachacamac asked with smile. "This is a large world. Maybe it somehow reappeared somewhere. You never know." Knuckles cleared his throat.

"Well then...I guess that brings me to another question..."

"I feel as if I am being interviewed. You sure have a lot of questions don't you?" Pachacamac tried to keep a smile, but Knuckles could tell he was getting nervous.

"What's this legend I've heard about?" Pachacamac's smile faded. Knuckles knew based on his reaction that Pachacamac was aware of what Knuckles came here to do.

"Legends are just stories my boy," he said. "They are made up to entertain the minds of others."

"That's not what I asked," Knuckles said, by now getting serious. "It's about me isn't it?"

"What do you plan to do Knuckles?" Pachacamac asked. "You don't plan to kill me right here do you?"

"I won't unless you do the right thing Pachacamac," Knuckles stood up.

"I have been doing what is right. I am making my people stronger and protecting them from any danger. I failed the last time back on the old world. I won't let that happen again."

"You think you're doing the right thing? You are murdering innocent people whom have no leader anymore! You have been doing this since you still lived on Mobius and you haven't changed at all! Chief, the last thing I want to do is kill you because you have been our leader for as long as I can remember, but what you are doing is wrong and you need to fix it right now!"

"How dare you tell me how to do my job!" Pachacamac yelled. "You disappeared for a long time but do not think for one second that you no longer serve me."

"I don't serve you Pachacamac, because I was born in a different time where I became the guardian of the Master Emerald. That has always been my destiny, but once I came here, I discovered I had a new one, and I am trying to make peace with you and tell you to free the remaining Nocturne soldiers. Don't you get it? They are us! You are murdering your own people but of a different clan, and that is not what a leader should do!"

"We have battled against Nocturne forever. They are the enemy regardless of what kind they are."

"If Nocturne is the enemy, then that makes you and your own people the enemy. Why can't we all just live in peace without going to war all the time? I am not saying they are innocent, but for the sake of us all, this war must come to an end! Free them Pachacamac!"

"No! The remaining Nocturne people must die and that is the end of it. I am protecting my people regardless if it is a brutal decision I chose to make or not. No one said being the Chief was easy, and doing the right thing does not always mean you will approve of it. Sometimes you must accept it and do it for the good of yourself and others. Real leaders seek power to stay strong and to protect their own kind."

"Then you Pachacamac are no real leader," Knuckles said, holding up his fists. "Leaders do what is right for others! They do not harm innocents out of fear of being defeated and they certainly do not put themselves as a priority! You do not protect people! You kill them! You say you search for power to stay strong and protect your people but you keep that power all to yourself and continue to kill anyone that gets in the way! I have lived at a point in time where I witnessed the men I fought beside with die brutally because you chose to invade another clan's land and try to take over! If you truly cared about us then your focus would only be on your clan rather than others. You're a phony of a leader and I won't stand to watch these people suffer any longer in the hands of YOU!" It was then a female scream filled the air.

"KNUCKLES!"

"Phoenix?" Knuckles ran outside and saw Phoenix chained by two warriors. He then saw Chaos chained by four others, and two other soldiers carrying Tikal's casket. Pachacamac came out behind him.

"What is this?!" Pachacamac yelled. "Chaos? And he murdered my daughter? And who is this? Another Nocturne solider?!"

"She's not from Nocturne! She's my daughter!" Knuckles yelled.

"Sir, should we imprison her?" One of the warriors asked.

"Throw her into prison along with this one!" Pachacamac said as she shoved Knuckles over to the warriors. "And as for Chaos I want him punished and killed for his crimes! We will discuss what to do with my daughter's corpse later, but get rid of these worthless scums immediately!"

"No!" Knuckles yelled as he fought the warriors that tried to chain him. "Phoenix I'll save you!"

"Knuckles!" She tried to break free from the warriors holding her back as Knuckles charged over to hit them, but he was held back by several other men and beaten down. Phoenix screamed as she watched the brutality of the men. Knuckles somehow managed to look up at her while suffering the beating.

"I'll...come back...for you..."

"Knuckles!" It was then Knuckles blacked out and was taken away by the warriors. Pachacamac cleared his throat as he walked over to the badly beaten Chaos.

"After all these years we have finally found you," he said as he held Chaos's chin up. "You not only go as far as sending us here, but you kill my daughter in the process. And now here we are."

"She is not dead," Chaos told him. "If anyone should be accused of murder it is YOU Pachacamac." Pachacamac smacked him across the face.

"How dare you speak to me that way!" He yelled. Chaos managed to lift his head up to look Pachacamac in the eye.

"You're just afraid of the legend," he said. "Knuckles has returned as the Chosen One, destined to become the new leader of this clan. No chains can hold him down, and when he breaks free and returns, you will be sorry."

"Take this fool out to the battle grounds," Pachacamac said. "Assemble all of my warriors and citizens to be there within the next hour."

"Sir, what about the matches?" One of the warriors asked.

"The what?"

"The Battle Grounds were marked today for the traditional Echidna Rite of Passage."

"Hah," Pachacamac stroked his chin. "I forgot about that. Well today we will have ourselves a twist." He looked at Chaos. "Since my men will be battling for Top Rank, I suppose the winner can determine the death penalty for this one. And since you wish to speak of the legend of the chosen one, why not I participate in the battle as well and put my leadership on the line? How is THAT for a show?" He looked back at his men. "Take him away. I will prepare the order and for battle."

"Yes sir." Six men took Chaos and Tikal towards the battle grounds while the others took Phoenix to prison. Chaos had his eyes closed as the guards took him away, but he refused to let the incident give him doubt.

_"I believe in you Knuckles,"_ He said to himself. _"You have proven yourself as a fine guardian after all this time, but the future of the Echidna race depends on you now. I have faith that you will return soon, and I beg you for the good of these people, beat Pachacamac and take his place as Chief of the Clan."_


	27. Chapter 27

To celebrate Sonic's 23rd birthday, here is the battle scene we have all been waiting for! Happy birthday Sonic!

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><p>Location: Eggmanland<p>

Time: 2014

Sonic and the others landed just outside of what remained of a forest. They were staring out at the mix of steel and stone structures that were built all around the land. The sky set the mood for a showdown, and Sonic's adrenaline rose when Eggman was heard speaking loudly over a microphone.

"Muhahahahaha!" Eggman and Amy watched the monitors as they spotted Sonic and the others. "Welcome Sonic to the new Eggman Empire! At last it has finally been completed thanks to the power of the seven chaos emeralds. With these emeralds, I will be able to take over any land I want in the world and officially become an Evil Overlord!

But let's get serious; we all know how this is going to go down don't we? I build a fortress, you try to stop me, and after all these years it was always me that failed in the end. But at last! I managed to obtain ALL seven chaos emeralds and I am now the most powerful man in the world! You have absolutely NOTHING that can match up to me now Sonic! So come on and meet me in my castle and try to stop me this time!"

"That's what you think Eggman," Sonic said. He turned around to face the others. "Alright guys, this is it. This will determine the future for sure. We can't fail, and I know as long as we work together that Eggman won't stand a chance. We have battled Eggman for twenty-three years now, and today this is where it ends! Are you guys ready?"

"We're ready!" Chase said. Espio and Blaze nodded.

"Ready Shadow?" Silver asked. "Can you handle it?" Shadow smirked.

"Ha," He took off his bandages. Everyone smiled when they saw his wounds have disappeared through the power of the emeralds. "Let's end this."

"Alright guys!" Sonic said. "Let's go!" They charged downhill into the entrance of the fortress. Robots began to charge towards them and many were flying over from different directions.

"Bring it on!" Sonic yelled with a grin on his face. He turned into a spinning ball of spikes and shot through the robots. He then landed and chuckled.

"That was too easy," He said.

"Sonic watch out!" Shadow jumped up behind him. "Chaos Spear!" He threw the spear at the robot and managed to blow it up. "Hey Silver, why not do Eggman a favor and take out his trash?"

"Got it!" Using his telekinesis, Silver gathered up all of the destroyed robots and threw them towards the robots that were still coming their way.

"Silver! Toss me an emerald!" Chase said.

"What for?" He asked. Blaze appeared behind him as she destroyed a robot sneaking up on Silver.

"Just do it!" She told him. He took out the red emerald.

"Alright then. Here! Catch!" He threw the red emerald towards Chase.

"I got it!" He said, and held the emerald in his hand. "Let's see if I can do this..." He closed his eyes and focused on the emerald. At that moment, the emerald turned into a smoky, glowing red staff. Everyone looked at him.

"How'd you do that?" Espio asked. Blaze smiled.

"He's getting his powers," she said. "Chase was born with a birth effect that allows him to bond to chaos emeralds. He can turn his thoughts into power, and he can manipulate pure chaos into a weapon." Chase stood beside Sonic, whom was still distracted by Chase's glowing red staff.

"Impressed yet dad?" He asked. "This is the Tribus." Sonic smiled.

"You're full of surprises aren't you?" He asked. "Well show your old man what you can do! Let me see how you handle these robots with that staff of yours!"

Everyone continued to charge as they made their way towards the castle. Robots continued to appear from all directions, but that didn't stop everyone from fighting.

Shadow and Espio were fighting beside each just as Silver did with Blaze. Sonic and Chase were handling some robots themselves. Sonic couldn't help but watch as Chase used the Tribus and destroyed some of the robots.

"Not bad," Sonic said to him before pulling out a light blue chaos emerald. "Show me what you can do with this one!" He threw the emerald to Chase, and the emerald's power allowed Chase to upgrade his staff to a spear with curved blades at each end.

"The Axiem!" He said as he swung the light blue bladed spear at some of the robots. "This is awesome! I remember these weapons from a dream I once had. I always seemed to have this one in hand!"

"That's pretty cool!" Sonic said to him. He motioned the other to move forward. "Come on everyone! Let's keep going! Amy is still with Eggman!" They continued running and fighting robots along the way. They soon reached a blockage on the path, and the robots went from simple Egg-pawns to larger robots. Four large robots had the six heroes centered in the middle of the pavement.

"How can we get around that wall?" Espio asked. "There's no door and we can't go around it or else we'll fall."

"Silver do you see anything?" Shadow asked as he held a chaos spear in his hand.

"I don't see any ruins or trigger of any kind that I can use," he said. "Chase do you have any ideas?"

"Try handing me the green emerald," he said. Shadow did so, and Chase manipulated two green flying disks out of it.

"What?!" Shadow yelled. "How the hell do you expect us to get across with two damn Frisbees?!" Chase threw the disks at one of the robots.

"Blaze light them up!" He yelled.

"Got it." Blaze tossed a fireball to the disks and lit them up into flaming Frisbees. The disks cut off some of the robot's parts and returned back to Chase He then tossed them at another robot.

"Shadow! Throw the spear!"

"Chaos Spear!" He threw his spear at the disks, electrifying them as they sliced through robot.

"I'll take it from here," Silver said as he gathered up the robot parts and threw them at the two remaining robots. He managed to throw them off the bridge. "Now what Chase?" Chase put down his disks and put his hands through them. They grew larger.

"Everyone get on," he said. "Silver, see if you can levitate us across."

"Alright guys, hang on." Silver put his hand down on the disks and lifted them up into the air. He carefully levitated everyone across to safety. "Everyone alright?"

"We're good," Sonic said. "Let's just keep going!" They continued moving ahead. Eggman watched from the monitors at the base, as he was rather impressed at their perseverance.

"Not bad," he said. "He's actually doing well." He looked at Amy. "I suppose you want to get ready? Sonic should be here soon."

"Hah," Amy said with a smile. "That's if he can make it through this." She pushed a button and missiles began to launch towards the gang. There was a closed gate up ahead of them.

"Damn it! It's another blockage!" Shadow said. "We won't get there fast enough at this rate."

"Everyone watch out!" Blaze yelled as she spotted and pointed at the missiles. There were many coming their way. Chase grabbed the yellow emerald from Shadow and manipulated a bow and arrow.

"Is there are trigger anywhere?" Chase asked.

"We don't need a trigger!" Sonic said with a smile. "Everyone follow my lead!" They stood side by side as the missiles flew closer, and all together, through Sonic's lead, they jumped over each missile and broke down parts of the gate. Silver flew towards the other missiles and caught them using his power, and he sent them flying to break down the rest of the blockage. Eggman banged his hands on the keyboard.

"There's just no stopping him!" He yelled. "That pesky hedgehog just won't give up!" Amy crossed her arms and glared at him. Eggman looked at her and then cleared his throat. "Well I suppose that's none of our concern right?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Regardless of how many attacks we send out, he is going to find a way through. But there is no reason to panic Doctor. Don't forget, we have the emeralds."

"Yes of course," Eggman clasped his hands and stared at the monitor. "There is no reason to panic yet. After all, he hasn't even arrived for the best part."

The gang found themselves inside a stone building, but they found themselves at another dead end. They searched around for a door to get through, but they weren't having any luck.

"God damn it," Shadow said, now becoming annoyed. "Here he challenges us to meet up with him and yet he builds a whole obstacle course for us."

"Guys I found the entrance," Silver said as he flew down towards them. "But it's all the way at the top. There aren't any stairs either, and I don't see a ladder." Shadow sighed.

"Well then it looks like the rest of my dignity is gone," Shadow said. He held up his arms. "Take me up there."

"Wait guys," Chase said as he looked at his bow and arrow. "I wanna try something." Chase pointed the Sagittarius at the wall and shot arrows traveling upwards. He looked at Sonic. "See if you can swing up the arrows."

"I can try," He said, and jumped up and swung as hard as he could to grab ahold of the next arrow. "It's strong enough! Come on!" Everyone followed Sonic's lead other than Silver, whom looked at Shadow with his arms crossed and smirked.

"Still want that extra lift?" He asked, trying to hold in a laugh. Shadow immediately walked away and grabbed onto an arrow.

"No thanks," he said. "I'm perfectly fine with this." Silver shrugged and flew upwards.

"Suit yourself slow poke!" Chase looked down at the black hedgehog. Shadow was only halfway upwards.

"Shadow be careful!" He yelled. "The arrows are starting to wear off behind you!"

"What?" He looked behind him. The arrows were fading and dying out. He groaned and continued to move forward. "Alright I'm coming!"

"Let's keep going!" Sonic said, and lead the others onward. Shadow was nearing the top, but before he could grab onto the last arrow, the arrow disappeared. Luckily, Espio caught his hand before Shadow could fall.

"Don't worry," he said. "I got you."

"Thanks." Espio carefully pulled him up. Shadow brushed off his arms. "I owe you one."

"Save it for later," Espio said with a smile. "We need to catch up with the others. With Sonic leading we are probably already far behind." Shadow grabbed his arm.

"Like hell we are," He said. "That hedgehog can't leave ME in the dust. Let's go. Hang on!" Shadow ran ahead with Espio. There were more robots flying towards them as well as behind them. Espio threw his ninja stars at them, but there were too many to destroy.

"Shadow I'm almost out of weapons," He said. "I only have a few blades left."

"Hold on tight," Shadow told him. "I have had just about enough of these damn robots!" He jumped into the air with Espio and threw a chaos spear at as many as he could. They landed in the middle of another battle field where Sonic and the others were fighting other robots.

"Hey Shadow where've ya been?" Sonic asked as he ripped through a large robot. Shadow smirked.

"Just passing through," he said. He looked at the laser gate that blocked their path. "We need to figure out a way to get inside that building. We can't keep fighting these robots head on. We don't even know what Eggman has waiting for us. We're wasting time!"

"Silver! Chase! HELP!" Blaze yelled as she was being squeezed by a robot.

"Blaze!" Silver threw the robot he fought over the bridge. "Don't worry I got you!" He looked at Chase and threw a purple emerald. "Here! You're gonna have to find a trigger somewhere while I get Blaze!"

"Alright!" Chase grabbed the purple emerald and manipulated a purple glowing hammer. "The Molotok should be able to get me to find the trigger."

"Is that a hammer?" Sonic asked. He let out a laugh. "You are your mother's son that's for sure."

"Thanks," Chase said. He then looked around. "Where could a trigger be hiding at?"

"Check under your feet!" Espio said as he struggled fighting a robot free handedly. Chase looked at the ground and noticed a series of cracks beneath him. He placed his hand over them.

"There's an airway underneath here. It has to be another room." He stood up and lifted his hammer. "Here it goes!" He broke through the ground and fell down into the room. He found a silver sphere-shaped trigger next to a red trampoline.

"I got it!" He pushed the trigger and hit the trampoline and jumped back upwards to the battle ground. The laser gate shut down and unblocked their path.

"Way to go Chase!" Sonic said as he gave him a thumbs up. Silver smiled.

"Not bad for a momma's boy." He teased. Chase rolled his eyes.

"Hearing all the stories about her, I will actually take that as a compliment. Come on!" Everyone continued ahead. They were nearing the castle entrance where Eggman and Amy were waiting.

"We're almost there everyone!" Sonic said. "Keep going!"

"Sonic look!" Blaze yelled as she pointed at the wooden door being lifted up. "The door is closing on us! We can't get across or get inside!"

"Leave that to me and Chase!" He handed Chase the blue emerald. "You've really impressed me buddy. I'm glad to know that when it's time for me to retire that you're the next generation's new hero. You have what it takes to do it."

"Thanks Sonic," Chase said with a smile. He used the blue emerald and created a blue, three bladed scythe.

"Jump now!" Sonic yelled, as the two hedgehogs jumped towards the closing door and went through the crack while the others continued to fight off robots outside. They looked at the wheel that lifted the door chains, but became distracted when they saw Egg-pawns headed their way.

"Jeez where does Eggman get the time?!" Sonic asked very annoyed. He fought them off as they charged. "This is starting to annoy me now!"

"Sonic the chains are stuck!" Chase said as he tried to pull the lever to lower the door. He then stabbed the scythe into the chains hoping to loosen them up. "My Acer isn't working!"

"Chase behind you!" Chase turned around as robots began to come his way. He groaned and swung the Acer as he cut through the robots parts.

"We can't lower the door if these robots keep attacking us!" Sonic smiled.

"Then we're just gonna have to let these robots open the door for us!" Sonic ran back over to one of the wheels and mocked the incoming Egg-pawns. "Come and get me!"

The robots charged all together towards the two hedgehogs, and when they jumped, the robots slammed into the lever and loosened the chains. Sonic and Chase then destroyed them and whistled at the others.

"They lowered the door!" Silver said smiling. Shadow groaned as he ripped off a head of one of the Egg-pawns.

"Well it's about time," He said. "Let's keep moving!" They ran inside through the halls and continued to fight through the incoming robots. They ended up reaching a stone cliff that stopped them from moving further ahead.

"God damn it!" Shadow yelled with rage. "This is taking too damn long!"

"I can see the entrance below, but I think it's too far to risk jumping." Silver said. Shadow pushed him aside and gave him the white emerald.

"To hell with that! I'm going!"

"Shadow don't!"

Shadow jumped head first off the cliff and landed on his feet. He moved ahead without the others.

"Well if he can do it," Sonic said. "Then I guess we can too." He then jumped off. "Geronimo!" Everyone looked at each other before following behind him. Silver handed Chase the white emerald.

"Just in case," He said, and flew downwards to the others. Chase looked down at how far the drop was and began to shake out of anxiety. He wasn't as strong as Sonic to land on his feet off high cliffs or to charge head first into battle.

"I can't do this," he said. "I'll break my legs if I try." He looked at the white emerald. "Unless..." He closed his eyes as the white emerald turned into a glowing white sword. "Maybe this'll help." He stabbed the sword into the stone wall and hung off of it as he cut through the wall downwards. He eventually made it to the ground and caught up with the others, whom had just finished fighting off a few more robots.

"Just in time Chase!" Sonic said, and then pointed at the entrance. "Let's go everyone!" They ran inside the castle and up the stairs where they found Eggman and Amy waiting for them.

"Alright Eggman the jig is up!" Sonic yelled. Eggman laughed.

"Sonic! You actually made it! Are you tired yet from the robots I sent out?" He asked. Sonic held up a fist.

"No way!" He yelled. "That was just a warm up! This time I'm ready for ya!"

"Oh Sonic, but you have yet to face me. Besides, I wouldn't want to face off against you before Amy's had her shot at you first. Isn't that right Ms. Rose?"

"Right Doctor," Amy said as she jumped down and took out a black spiked piko hammer. "I have waited a long time for this."

"Amy don't!" Sonic said as he put his hands up. "It's me Amy! I came here to save you!" He jumped when Amy swung at him.

"I never asked to be saved!" She yelled. "I just want to get even with you after the countless times you hurt me! I am not forgiving you ever again Sonic! You had your chance!" She swung at him again.

"But Amy you can't do this!" Sonic yelled as he dodged her hammer. "You're apart of us Amy! What about the battles we fought together?! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Love is blind Sonic!" She yelled as she swung at him again. "We fall in love just to fall flat on our face in the end!" She had him cornered. "I've had just about of you. It all ends here!" Before she can hit him, her arms were grabbed by Chase.

"Amy stop it!" He yelled, but Amy managed to shove him away and swung her hammer at him. She was grabbed by Silver and Shadow from behind.

"Stop that!" Silver yelled.

Shadow groaned. "Enough of this!"

"Let me go!" Amy yelled. She attempted to lift her hammer backwards, to which caused Shadow and Silver to let go, but before she can hit anyone, Chase ran towards her, swung his sword, and broke her hammer. Amy groaned.

"That's enough Amy!" Chase told her. "We're your friends!" Sonic frowned.

"Amy you can't do this," He said. "Come with us." He grabbed her hand. "Come with me..." Amy looked him in the eyes.

"Never..." She said, before jumping up to Eggman onto the wing of his Eggmobile. Eggman laughed.

"There's no use trying to get her back now Sonic," He said. "Amy is on my side now, and I think it's time we put an end to this once and for all!" He pushed a red button. "Rise Eggman Emperor!"

"Eggman!" Sonic yelled, before the ground began to shake on them. Sonic was on his knees. "Everyone be careful!" They all fell to the ground as they watched Eggman and Amy go inside of one of the largest robots that they have ever seen. It was nearly twice the size of the Egg-sterminator. They all looked up in awe.

"That thing is huge..." Silver said.

"Sonic..." Chase looked at him. Sonic was angry. He watched as the robot continued to rise in the air. He could feel the rage and adrenaline rushing through his body. He stood up and looked back at everyone.

"Hand me the chaos emeralds," He said. "This means war."

"You hold on just a minute," Shadow said. "You don't think you're going to handle that thing on your own do you?"

"Yeah!" Silver added. "We're a team!" Blaze nodded.

"And I think this is more than the great 'Sonic the Hedgehog' can handle," She said. Sonic looked at them.

"Alright then," he said, before looking at Chase. "You stay with Espio. I don't want you getting hurt."

"But...but Sonic-" Chase remembered what happened the last time he didn't stay with him, but his thoughts were interrupted by Silver.

"Just go! We can take it from here! We came here for your own sake and now it's time to save the future!"

"But-," Chase was interrupted when Espio put his hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry kid," he said. "They're in good hands." Chase frowned as he looked at the others. Sonic smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

"Don't worry little buddy," He said. "We got this." He turned to look at Shadow, Silver, and Blaze. "You guys ready?"

"We're ready," Blaze answered. They each closed their eyes as the seven emeralds circled them. Sonic, Shadow, Silver's fur turned to a bright golden yellow. They became Super Sonic, Super Silver, and Super Shadow. Blaze's fur transitioned to pink, and from there she became Burning Blaze.

"Here we go guys!" Super Sonic said. "Let's get him!" They all flew upwards to the robot. Eggman's jaw dropped.

"Impossible!" He yelled. "How could they be super if we have the emeralds?!" Sonic laughed.

"Hey Eggman!" He said. "Have you met our travelers yet?"

"I'm Silver the Hedgehog!"

"And I'm Blaze the Cat!"

"And for the future of our world," Shadow added.

"We're going to end this!" They said together. Eggman groaned.

"Great! Well now that we all know each other..." He aimed at the four of them and shot out missiles their way. "Let's finish this!"

"Watch out!" Super Sonic yelled as the others scattered. Super Silver used his telekinesis to grab ahold of the missiles.

"Not this time you Egg headed freak!" He threw them at the robot, but they all were shocked to realize that the damage was slim. "What the-"

"Let's just tear through this junk pile the old fashioned way!" Super Sonic yelled as he charged towards the robot, but instead of stabbing through it, Eggman swung the robot's hand and sent Sonic flying through the castle walls. Everyone watched in shock.

"That's never been done before," Super Shadow said before looking at the robot. Eggman laughed.

"Face it!" He yelled. "We're evenly matched now! You can't defeat me now! The seven chaos emeralds make me merely invulnerable to your attacks!"

"EGGMAN!" Super Sonic charged back towards him. "You're NOT getting away with this!" He attempted to shoot through the robot again, but he ended up hitting his head on the armor and falling downward.

"SONIC!" Chase screamed as he watched the golden hedgehog fall from the sky. He had tears in his eyes.

_"Eggman and the others are too evenly matched,"_ he thought. _"Sonic is going to hurt himself if he keeps this up. It's my fault I didn't stay behind the last time, and if I don't do something soon, Sonic and the others are going to suffer the same fate!"_

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><p><strong>To be continued...<strong>


	28. Chapter 28

I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone for reading, following, and reviewing my fanfic. It truly means a lot! :)

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><p>Location: The Mystic Dimension<p>

Time: Unknown

Knuckles awoken in a jail cell after being beat down by the warriors. He had shackles around his wrists that were nailed down onto the cement. He stood up and tried to bang on the jail cell bars, but it was hard to break free when he had been tied down.

"Phoenix!" He yelled. "Phoenix are you out there?" There was no answer. He attempted to reach for the cell bars again, but the strength required getting to them drained his energy instantly.

"It's no use trying to escape," said a female voice behind him. He turned around and realized that he had been in a cell with fifteen other people dressed in black armor. "We have been trying to escape the moment they threw us in here. There's no way out." The figure stepped out and revealed herself.

"Shade?" Knuckles asked surprisingly. "How did you get here?" He couldn't believe his eyes after seeing her. It was like he had seen a ghost.

"They found us," Shade told him. "We tried our best to get away, but when Pachacamac's Clan attacked, they killed off many of our soldiers and threw the remaining others in these cells."

"But..." Knuckles took a step towards her. "We brought you here Shade. We took you with us after we destroyed Ix. How did you find this place?" Shade sighed.

"I went back," she said. "Don't get me wrong, your world is beautiful, and I enjoyed our battle against Dr. Eggman after returning, but once we destroyed the Egg Carrier, it got me thinking." She looked back at the other soldiers.

"What would happen to my own Clan if I left them trapped in the Twilight Cage? They were the only people I actually knew, the people I trained with, the people I fought beside with." She looked at Knuckles.

"We had no leader anymore, so what else were they supposed to do? So after the battle, I managed to fix up what I could of one of the Doctor's fleets, and I went back to the Twilight Cage to save my clan. What kind of soldier would I be if I left my own men behind?" She looked down at the floor.

"The barrier of the Twilight Cage was weakening, so it was easy to get through. Once I found everyone, they appointed me as the new leader of Nocturne, and on my orders, they boarded the carrier with me and I tried to take them back to Earth.

But something strange happened. We were halfway there before the carrier malfunctioned. We were stuck for a while before we realized we were headed straight into this white light in space. We couldn't explain what it was, but whatever it was, it brought us here.

We crashed here, not far off from the village, and when Pachacamac and his clan saw us, he declared war. Since then, we've been here, tired, starving, cold, and alone." She banged her fist on the wall. "I am the worst leader on planet!"

"Shade stop," one of the Nocturne soldiers said as he pulled her away from the wall. "You are NOT a terrible leader. This was NOT your fault."

"Yeah," another soldier said. "You came back instead of leaving us there to die. If that's not the heart of a true leader, then I don't know what is."

Knuckles watched as they all comforted Shade in the corner. Other than the villagers, he couldn't remember a single time when he saw people of his own kind showing sympathy and respect towards one another. Even Pachacamac's men were not sympathetic towards each other. The sight of how close the Nocturne Clan grew made Knuckles attempt to break his chains. It caught Shade's attention.

"Knuckles what are you doing?" She asked. "You're going to hurt yourself. Just give up; we are not getting out of here any time soon."

"That's what you think," he said. "Pachacamac has my daughter, my wife, and Chaos. I am getting out of here one way or another."

"You are married?" Shade asked. Knuckles shook his head.

"Chaos brought my daughter here from a lost possibility in time," He explained. "She helped me find an old temple, and when we unlocked the door we found this place. We discovered Chaos here with Tikal, and he told us that it was up to me to defeat Pachacamac and take charge of the clan."

"But I don't understand," Shade said. "Are you not related to him?" Knuckles shook his head.

"I was one of his daughter's guardians around the time they were still on Earth," He told her. "After an attack from the past Nocturne citizens, I was nearing death until his daughter saved me. Using the Master Emerald, she sent me to be born in a different time, and that's how my destiny to guard the Master Emerald came about."

"A past life?" Shade asked. "I never would have thought it." She watched as he continued to pull on his shackles. "So how did you guys get caught?"

"Phoenix was caught alongside Chaos by Pachacamac's men. I was trying to reason with Pachacamac on my own, but after all these years the guy never changed. He must have known what I came there to do even before I talked to him, because it was easy to break him when I asked about the legend that was circling the village." He pulled on the shackles again.

"But it doesn't matter," he said. "If he thinks that some chains are going to stop me from saving my people, then by all means he's a fool. I'm breaking out of here and I am going to do what he should have done a very long time ago. We are family, and regardless of what Clan we come from, at the end of the day we are the same! We should be able to live in peace together rather than murdering our own for the sake of power!"

"Knuckles!" Shade yelled when she saw how hard he pulled on the shackles. Their mouths dropped when they saw he managed to break them. His wrists were bloody, but based on his anger; it was the last thing that bothered him. He walked backwards to the back wall of the cell, and he charged towards the bars and hit them with his fists. The wall where the nails of the door were screwed into began to crumble.

He repeatedly charged towards the door, and after his third time, he broke the screws out of the wall. He looked around for the keys and when he caught sight of them, he grabbed them and went back in the cell. He began to unlock the chains from the soldiers.

"Knuckles..." Shade said with awe in her voice. "I-I don't know how to thank you..."

"No need to thank me," he told her. He unlocked the last soldier and looked at all of them. "If you guys want to thank me, do it by joining me. Today is the day where our clans are finally going to live amongst each other in peace. No more wars. Today we are one!"

"We are one!" The soldiers repeated.

"Let's get out of here." Knuckles led the way as the Nocturne inmates followed behind him. He was surprised to see that the halls were practically empty.

"Where are all the guards?" He asked, but continued ahead and led them to the outside. "Where is everyone?" They heard chanting coming from the Battle Fields.

"When they put you in the cell, we heard them talking about the Rite of Passage," Shade told him. "Everyone must be at the stadium. They said that the winner will decide the death of a killer."

"That's Chaos," Knuckles said. "He didn't kill anyone." He looked back at her. "By any chance do you know where there is another prison around here?"

"I'm afraid we won't make it to the Battle Fields in time to save your friend," she said. "We believe the prison is located on the other side of the village."

"My daughter is there," Knuckles told her. "We have too."

"Well we can save her," one of the Nocturne soldiers said. "We will meet you at the battle grounds. Just fulfill your duty and defeat Pachacamac! We will be there on time with our men and your daughter."

"Are you sure?" Knuckles asked. Shade nodded.

"Yes," she told him. "It is the least we can do for you after freeing us."

"Alright," Knuckles said. "Take care of her." He turned around and ran in the direction of the battle fields. Shade led her men towards the village.

The Rite of Passage had already begun, as the audience, Pachacamac, and his remaining warriors cheered as two guardians were in a bloody, heavy fist fight. Chaos was forced to watch to them battle. He was chained to a wooden platform and had bruises all over his body.

The fight was over when one of the bloody echidnas fell to the ground and was given a concussion. Pachacamac stood and cheered as the warrior taunted the crowd to celebrate his victory.

"Is there no one to stop me?!" He yelled, before turning to Pachacamac. "Tell me my next opponent Chief!"

"Balam," he said with a smile. "You have made it to the ninth round, but you have one more opponent before challenging me. You shall come into battle with-"

"He's going into battle with me!"

Everyone stood quiet when they saw Knuckles making his way over to the field. The crowd passed on whispers to one another.

"The Chosen one..." They said quietly amongst each other.

"He has returned..."

"The legend is true, it is the savior..."

Pachacamac looked at the red echidna with disbelief. He could not understand how he broke out of prison.

"Knuckles," he said. "How did you escape?" Chaos smiled at the sight of Pachacamac's anger.

"The legend," Chaos said to himself. "The legend speaks of a lost soldier born from another time. His original destiny was to guard a relic from his past, but his fate was rewritten the day he discovered his people, trapped in a whole other world. He was to one day rebel against their cruel leader and challenge him to become the rightful ruler, and by doing so, he would unleash the power of the chaos and bring his family back home."

"No amount of chains could ever keep me down from doing what is right," Knuckles told Pachacamac. "You can try avoiding it all you want, but there's nowhere to run Pachacamac. I am here! I am HOME! And I have come to stop your long reign and bring peace to these people once and for all!"

The crowd cheered as Knuckles preached, much to Pachacamac's annoyance. He groaned and screamed.

"ENOUGH!" He looked at Knuckles. "I have had just about enough of you trying to rebel against me! And I have had it with this legend! You wish to challenge me? I am all yours unless you prove yourself worthy of defeating my top warrior!" He looked at the remaining guardian that stood in the middle of the ring. "Balam! It is you VS Knuckles! Show no mercy!"

"Yes sir," He said as he stepped in the ring with Knuckles. Based on his expression, it was clear that Balam did not want anything to do with Knuckles, but he followed his orders and got in his fighting stance.

"Do you _really_wanna take the risk of fighting me?" Knuckles asked him as he held up his fists. "I don't want to hurt you, but if it is the only way I get to face off to Pachacamac, I hope you can forgive me." Balam kept on his battle expression, but he shook his head.

"By Chief's orders I must," he said. "I am his protector. I also seize to become first rank. I must battle."

"Fine," Knuckles said. "But when I beat you, you'll take orders from me." Balam threw the first punch at Knuckles as the two pushed each other around and got into a fist fight. Everyone watched as the two battled, but Balam was no match for Knuckles. Knuckles had the lead in the battle as he threw Balam to the ground several times.

"Fight him Balam!" Pachacamac yelled out. "Do not let him beat you! You have kept a winning streak all this time! Do not give up!"

"I won't Chief," he said, until he was picked up by Knuckles and tossed out of the ring. Balam lied in the dirt, but before anyone could count to three to declare a winner, Balam crawled halfway back inside, stopping the timer. Knuckles groaned.

"I don't want to fight you," Knuckles told him. "I am trying to free you. Just let me win!" He grabbed Balam by his hand, but Balam shoved him away.

"If I let you win, and you lose to the Chief, I would be killed for treason," he said, and attempted to punch Knuckles again. "I do not wish to die if the legend is untrue." He charged towards Knuckles as they continued to battle, but Balam was constantly knocked down to the ground. The audience was quiet as they watched Knuckles easily take him down, but Pachacamac was close to rage.

Shade, Phoenix, and the remaining Nocturnus soldiers were headed towards the battle grounds. They were nearing the entrance.

"Should we still go inside?" Phoenix asked. "What if everyone freaks out?"

"Everyone will be too focused on Knuckles," Shade replied. "Their leader is about to fall. The last thing that matters is us at this point."

"I can't go on..." Balam said, growing tired in the battle. "I have become second rank. Please stop. I cannot continue…" He fell out of the ring with exhaustion. The crowd stood quiet as they watch the fallen guardian cough and beg for mercy. "He defeated my streak," he said, and then looked at Knuckles. "That makes you First Rank." Knuckles groaned as he turned to Pachacamac.

"Now then," he began. "That leaves me with you Pachacamac. You're up." Pachacamac stood up.

"You beat him Knuckles," he said. "But the winner decides the death penalty for the killer. So you must now tell us what you're going to do with Chaos." Shade, Phoenix, and the rest of the Nocturnus Clan arrived into the field. The crowd talked among themselves, seeming panicked by their appearance.

"Everyone calm down," Knuckles said. "I set them free."

"See?!" Pachacamac yelled over him. "This man is a traitor! He set our enemies free out to kill us! He does not care for your safety! I kept our enemies in prison and killed them for the sake of protecting you! Knuckles wants to watch you all perish in the hands of Nocturnus!" He turned to his men. "Arrest them!"

"The battle is not over," Phoenix said to him. "As of now, this clan is technically without a leader because you said that your leadership is on the line. You remain as the last known ruler, but you can only give orders if you win. Therefore, your guards are prohibited from taking orders by you."

Knuckles smiled. "Your guards can arrest me, only if you win. So let's do this Pachacamac. The battle to end all battles has come." Pachacamac stepped into the ring painted on the ground.

"You seem so convinced that you can beat me," Pachacamac said. He gave a sly smile. "But I hope that isn't based off a story people tell for their own amusement. You must not forget who trained you." Knuckles held up his fists.

"Well then I guess you have nothing to worry about Chief," he told him. "You were my teacher after all. Show me and your clan just how much of a true leader you are. If you fail, then I become the new Chief."

"But what if I win?" Pachacamac asked.

"If you win," Knuckles began. "You not only remain leader, but you get me. You can make me serve you forever, or just kill me." Everyone talked among themselves, shocked at the deals being made on the field.

"What?" Phoenix said, almost to tears. "But Knuckles..." Knuckles looked at her.

"Don't worry about me," he told her. "I made it this far thanks to you. If it wasn't for your help and Chaos, I wouldn't be here right now."

"But you don't have the chaos emeralds..." She said. Knuckles smiled.

"You're right. I don't." He looked at Pachacamac. "But if I am to prove myself worthy as a leader, I do not need their power to showcase my strength. My source of power to beat him comes from within my heart, based on the love I have for my people and my family. No amount of chaotic energy can beat that."

Phoenix's eyes watered. She knew Knuckles was a risk taker, but to put himself on the line for her and the clan made her anxious, especially with the unfortunate luck they had losing the chaos emeralds. Without the emeralds, the battle was anyone's to win: Knuckles or Pachacamac. At this point, all anyone could do now was hope.


	29. Chapter 29

Resuming with the Supers VS Eggman battle! :3 I know this is what you guys have been waiting for! :3

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><p>Location: Eggmanland<p>

Time: 2014

"SONIC NO!" Chase screamed as he ran off to catch the falling golden hedgehog.

"Kid!" Espio tried to go after him, but Chase had already been out of reach. He stopped at a cliff when he saw the water beneath him. He couldn't stand to look at the water, but he knew Sonic couldn't swim. He ran backwards, and then ran forwards as he jumped off the edge and caught Super Sonic in the air.

"I gotcha Sonic," he said, and with a stroke of luck, he managed to land on some old building ruins. The golden hedgehog groaned and slowly opened his eyes.

"Thanks pal," he said.

Chase put him down. "Sonic, can you even do this? I heard that bang all the way from the ground." Super Sonic rubbed his head.

"I'm fine." He looked up at the robot and watched as Super Shadow, Super Silver, and Burning Blaze fought Eggman. "I need to end this. He's going down one way or another." He looked at the purple hedgehog. "Chase buddy I want you to stay here. I won't let you get hurt."

"But Sonic, I-" The gold hedgehog wouldn't hear another word as he flew back up into the sky. Chase was nearing tears at this point, but he managed to snap himself out of it.

"No Sonic," he said. "I won't lose you again. Not this time!" He closed his eyes, and focused as he summoned the chaos emeralds to him. They began to circle around him.

"I won't back down from my fights any longer!" His fur transitioned to a silvery lavender, and his eyes changed from a jade green to a flaming orange. He flew into the air and stood in the middle of the four supers.

"Chase?" Super Silver asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh great!" Eggman yelled. "Now who are you?!" True Chase held out his hand, as he manipulated a bright golden scepter from the combined power of the emeralds.

"I am Chase the Hedgehog, future hero of the world, and I have come here to fight alongside Sonic to stop you!"

"Chase," Super Sonic went over to him. "Buddy this is way too dangerous. This is not your battle to fight."

"No Sonic," Chase told him. "I abandoned you the last time. I won't do it again. You said so yourself, I am the next generation's new hero. It's time I proved it." He took his hand into his. "And I want do it with you beside me." Sonic smiled, but the moment cut itself short when Eggman yelled.

"I have had just about enough of you 'heroes' trying to foil my plans! I won't let you do it again! Fire the Eggbeam!"

"Watch out!" Super Sonic took Chase as the supers scattered in the air when the beam fired. Burning Blaze created a flaming ball of fire and threw it towards the head of the robot.

"Shadow! Energize the flames with your spears!" She yelled. Super Shadow nodded as he formed several blue Chaos Spears and tossed them at Blaze's fireball.

But the damage again was slim.

"Nothing is working!" Super Shadow yelled. "We can't destroy it unless we get ahold of his chaos emeralds!"

Super Silver threw several objects at the robot before looking at Shadow. "And just how do you suppose we do that? We can't even make a dent in this thing!"

"We're too evenly matched," Super Sonic added.

True Chase flew beside him. "What if we all attacked him at once? Could that work?" Super Sonic looked at the robot.

"Worth a shot." He looked at Shadow, Silver, and Blaze. "Everyone all together!"

"Right!" The Supers stood beside each other as each of them prepared to fire. Eggman laughed.

"Do it!" He ordered. He had his hand on a lever. "I dare you!"

"On my mark!" Super Sonic yelled. "Three...two...one! GO!"

Together, the Supers used all of their abilities as they attacked the robot. Sonic shot out a beam from his hands, alongside Chase whom did so from his scepter. Silver threw heavy ruins as Blaze ignited the robot in flames with Shadow beside her firing blue spears.

"Nice try," Eggman said with a grin as he pulled the lever. "But I am afraid we extended our battle far too long."

The Eggman Emperor raised its arms as it shot out a large electric silver laser at the Supers, but the power of the chaos emeralds were so evenly matched, neither beam was able to hurt the other.

"We need to locate the source of the emeralds in that thing, and QUICK!" Super Shadow yelled. "This fight isn't going anywhere!"

"It'll just continue until one of us is too tired to go on!" Burning Blaze added. "We can't stay super forever! We gotta do something!"

"Let's not forget that there are a total of fourteen emeralds in this time," Super Silver pointed out. "The longer these emeralds are here, the greater the chance that we can cause a major chaos blast that can destroy the entire world." Super Sonic groaned.

"There's no way around this!" He yelled. "If we stay where we are, our super forms will wear off, but if we continue to fight with the emeralds amongst each other, it'll destroy the planet! And just fighting this thing isn't going anywhere either!"

"Muhahahaha!" Eggman laughed. "I haven't felt this good in years! It feels great to know that I finally have the ultimate weapon that cannot be defeated. At last, my greatest goal is only seconds away from achievement!"

"But Doctor, Sonic and the others are still fighting. There's no way, even with your machinery, that the emeralds can grant you an unlimited source of power. Your machine might overheat or completely malfunction if this battle continues," Amy said.

"They will surrender before any of that happens my dear," He told her. "Besides what do you know? All you can do is swing a hammer around when people do something that irritates you. You're just pathetic and useless as you always were, except I was able to turn you into a slave to do my dirty work and make you bait to lure in Sonic."

"What?" Amy looked stunned. "So that's all I was? Just a mere slave and bait? But I thought I would be well rewarded once we took over!"

"Once WE took over?" Eggman looked at her. "All you did was go on a scavenger hunt. I'm the one that did all of the muscle work to make this possible."

"None of this would have been possible if I hadn't given you the chaos emeralds!"

"But you did, and you have done well at doing so, but I'm afraid I will no longer be needing your service," He said with a grin.

"YOU LIAR!" Amy took out her spiked hammer and hit the control panel where the emeralds were kept. The broken panel caused the emeralds to overheat, and the computer began to release a burning smoke.

Burning Blaze gasped. "Something's happening! What's happening?!" True Chase didn't hesitate to take advantage.

"Our only chance to win is what's happening," he held up his scepter and closed his eyes. "Chaos emeralds, lend me the power through the Ultima to defeat this great evil..."

The seventh chaos emerald began to glow as the remaining six circled around the Ultima. The emeralds shot out beams of power into the emerald, and combined their power with the seventh emerald as Chase pointed the scepter at the robot.

"Ultima Ignite!" The scepter unleashed a roaring beam of power at the robot. Although Eggman and Amy were fighting, the emeralds were still intact in the panel, to which the robot maintained self-control to fire back at the beam in self-defense.

Chase felt a hand over his. "Sonic?" Super Sonic smiled as he helped point the scepter at the robot.

"Let's do this together," He said. Chase then saw Blaze put her hand over his too.

"We traveled here together, so we're going to beat this thing together," She said. Shadow put his hand on the scepter as well as Silver, as all of them smiled and combined their powers. The beam turned into a strong glowing gold, with rocks and ruins circling it with Silver's telekinesis, and it was ignited with flames by Blaze and electrified with Shadow's spears.

"What's going on here?!" Eggman yelled. "It can't be!" He attempted to push buttons and pull levers on the panel. "You ruined the panel you little brat!"

"Good! Unlike Sonic, I can take you out without the power of the emeralds! You deserved it!" She swung her hammer again at the panel and destroyed it some more. The chaos emerald were overheating so much that it began to melt the machinery and cause internal damage.

"It's working!" True Chase said, and when the robot malfunctioned, the beam shot through its core and blew it up. Eggman was sent flying and screaming.

"ARGH! CURSE YOU SONIC THE HEDGEHOOOOOOOOOOG!"

Super Sonic saw as Amy fell from the sky, and didn't hesitate to go after her. He flew down and caught her in his arms and landed near the trees of where they first arrived. True Chase landed next to him as they stared at Amy.

"Is she okay?" He asked. Sonic nodded as he waved his golden hand over her. Her fur transitioned back to pink as he did so. Super Shadow arrived with Espio, followed by Super Silver and Burning Blaze. Amy began to move, and slowly opened her eyes.

"Amy..." The golden hedgehog said with a smile. "Thank goodness you're okay..." Amy looked puzzled.

"Well...I'm fine...but...who are you exactly?" The hedgehog's smile faded as he looked at the other Supers.

"It-It's me Amy, I'm Sonic. Remember?" Amy shook her head. Super Sonic looked at Super Chase, whom was starting to fade. He went over to him.

"Chase buddy, what's happening to you? You're fading!"

"It's Amnesia..." Blaze said. "She doesn't remember anything of who she is or who we are or what happened."

"Sonic," Chase said as tears began to form. "You need to make Amy fall back in love with you or else I will cease to exist. I'm fading away in time!"

"Don't worry buddy," The golden hedgehog said. "I'm going to see you again. I'll take care of it." He hugged him. "I'm so proud of you. We couldn't have done it without you." Chase hugged him back.

"Don't forget me Sonic," he said. "Please get Amy to remember you..."

"I will do whatever it takes buddy..." They pulled away from the hug. Tears began to fall from Chase's eyes.

"I love you dad..." After a moment, the crying hedgehog vanished into thin air. At that point, the future emeralds gathered around them and turned everyone back to normal. Silver and Blaze grabbed ahold of them as they looked at Sonic, whom they could tell, was fighting the urge to cry.

"It's up to you now Sonic to carry on from here," Blaze said to him. "Chase still exists in a time possibility, but it's up to you to make Amy fall back in love with you, or else he will no longer be connected to the timeline."

"The timeline changes constantly," Silver added. "Anything is possible, but again, that's all life is built upon. Possibilities. It's up to you to bring the possibility of Chase's existence into the timeline. Time isn't to be wasted in doing so either. You must make Amy fall in love with you before it is too late, and you must not do anything to mess up the chances of that happening either."

"Her amnesia can be temporary, or maybe forever. We don't know which it is. But only you can get her to remember," Blaze looked at Silver. "But if Chase doesn't exist in the timeline, how are we still here? Wouldn't we have vanished too?" Silver shrugged and sighed.

"I don't even know any more Blaze," He said. "I suppose since we're still here, the chance for our existence still remains as well, but I don't think we should wait a second longer here anymore to figure it out. We need to go back." Blaze nodded before looking at Sonic.

"Our mission is complete," She said. "Farewell Sonic the Hedgehog and friends."

"We'll see you later," Silver said with a wink, before yelling "Chaos Control" and opening a portal. He and Blaze then disappeared, leaving the remaining four to question their next motives.

"Hmm?" Shadow looked up into the sky. "Hey! The chaos emeralds!" He pointed at the emeralds as they shot through the sky like shooting stars. Espio looked up.

"Where do you think they are going to?" He asked. They looked at Sonic, whom was helping Amy to her feet. Based on his expression, they decided not to say anything and began to walk away from the scene.

"You think he's going to be okay?" Espio asked. Shadow looked at him and nodded.

"Yeah," He looked forward. "That's his problem now. We did what we had to do and we can carry on." Espio stopped, but Shadow continued to walk ahead.

"Well where are you off to Shadow?" He asked. "Shouldn't we stick together so we can figure out a way off this island?"

"You can follow if you want, but only for transportation. I have some things I need to take care of once we get back to Station Square." Espio stared for a few moments before shrugging and going after him. They eventually disappeared within the trees.

Sonic looked around as he held Amy's hand. "We need to get off this island and fast," he said. "Do you see a boat anywhere?" Amy pulled away from his grasp.

"I don't see anything," she said. "And I can handle myself when walking you know. You don't have to hold my hand like I'm some little kid." Sonic looked at her and blushed.

"I-I'm sorry..." He said as he scratched his head. He looked out at the ocean. "We can't stay here. We gotta go home."

"Where's home?" Amy asked. Sonic was pacing all around.

"It's far from here that's for sure." He looked at the base, which was beginning to fall apart and turn into flames. "Maybe Egghead has something that can get us out of here." He made an attempt to grab Amy's hand, but immediately caught himself and looked down at his feet. "Come on. We need to go back to the base." Amy whined.

"But that's so far," she complained. "And I'm wearing boots-whaaa!" Her sentence was interrupted when Sonic picked her up and held her in his arms.

"No worries!" He said. "I'll get us there quick. Just hang on to me okay?" He smiled at her to reassure her safety. She hesitated before wrapping her arms around his neck. Once she did so, Sonic sped off in the distance.

Sonic looked down at her. He noticed her eyes were closed as if she was afraid or perhaps not used to the speed. The sight was adoring.

_"This shouldn't be too hard,"_ he thought to himself. _"At this rate, she should fall in love with me real soon, and then I will not only have her, but I'll get to see Chase again. I just hope I don't mess anything up. Truth be told, I don't know a thing about love. But I guess if I want a future, I'll be stepping out of my comfort zone for a while. I suppose the tables had to turn at some point."_

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><p>Finally the romance can begin! Sorry it took so long. I had to build up the story! XD <strong>Reviews appreciated! <strong>


	30. Chapter 30

Let me take the moment to celebrate the 30th CHAPTER! It's thanks to your reviews and views and my new followers that the story has made it this far. Thank you all so much for your support!

Well here it is! The last part to Knuckles' Destiny! :)

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><p>Location: Mystic Dimension<p>

Year: Unknown

Knuckles and Pachacamac were in a complete brawl at this point. They each had bruises and marks on their bodies from hitting each other so hard. There was total silence in the stadium from the crowd to the point you were able to hear the grunts being made by the men and them sliding on the dirt.

Knuckles expected Pachacamac not to fall so easily, but he began to get slightly annoyed, seeing as this battle wasn't going anywhere. He did after all; learn his moves from Pachacamac, so there was nothing he did that Pachacamac didn't know how to dodge or comeback to.

"You seem tired Knuckles," Pachacamac said as he threw a punch. "Perhaps you should just give up here and now and rest." He threw another punch, but Knuckles caught it in his hands.

"You're one to talk old man," Knuckles said with a smirk. "I'm surprised you haven't had a heart attack yet. If you surrender now and make me leader, I promise to have a nurse take care of you. I won't kill you like the legend claims." Pachacamac smiled as he shoved Knuckles. They both continued to fight.

"Whether the legend says so or not, you must kill the leader," Pachacamac told him. Knuckles groaned.

"I don't kill. I'm not like you." The statement made Pachacamac angry to the point he screamed and threw Knuckles down onto the ground. At this point, Pachacamac had full control. He repeatedly hit him while he was down and tossed him into the air and kicked him out of the ring.

"You make me out to be this cruel cold blooded killer!" He yelled. "I do what I believe is right for the wellbeing of my own clan! I seek to give them power to stay strong!" Knuckles managed to get back into the ring. Lucky for him, he made it back before the timer counted to three.

"No Pachacamac," Knuckles said. "You seek power to make yourself strong. You don't care about the wellbeing of anyone but yourself." He got in his fighting stance. "None of these people asked to go into battle! They are dying out of your own greed!" He threw a punch towards him.

"None of this would have happened if you had just minded your own business in the first place!" Again he hit him. "Don't you understand?! You make people live in fear because you are constantly seeking to have control over everything!" He threw him down onto the ground.

"You had it all, yet you still wanted more. Nocturnus must have been concerned that you would come after them, and so they weren't about to back down and allow you the advantage. You were already known for a bad reputation, and the second you attempted to hurt them was the second we came into a long lasting war that killed hundreds and hundreds of people!" Knuckles could feel himself getting stronger as he threw Pachacamac out of the ring.

"We are a family! Families stick together! There should never be a case where one of us attempts to hurt another for the sake of power. But that was all you ever did!" Knuckles charged at Pachacamac as Pachacamac attempted to crawl back into the ring. Everyone gasped when they saw how Knuckles began to glow.

"What is this energy?" Pachacamac asked under his breath. "There is no way you could have done this on your own..." Knuckles looked at his arms as he noticed his red fur transitioning slowly to a hot pink.

"What's going on?" He asked. Pachacamac attempted to hit him, but when he did, it only knocked him back down.

"What is this force field you have?" He asked. Knuckles shook his head.

"I don't know..."

Suddenly, one by one, the chaos emeralds began to appear around the ring. Everyone watched in shock. It has been a while since anyone saw the chaos emeralds again, and it was unbelievable that they arrived after the door had been closed off.

At this point, Knuckles' fur became a glowing light pink. Although everyone was in awe as they watched him transform, Pachacamac refused to give in.

"I won't lose to you! Those chaos emeralds are mine!" Pachacamac tried to attack Knuckles, but nothing of what he did hurt him at all. Knuckles just stood there taking it. He then closed his eyes and held out his hand, as he sent Pachacamac flying into the ground.

He slowly made his way over to him. "Are you going to surrender?" He asked. Pachacamac managed to pull himself up to his knees. He groaned and again, attempted to attack the glowing echidna. Knuckles was able to catch his fist in one hand, to which he then replied, "Wrong answer," and threw him up in the air and kicked him into the sky.

Knuckles flew up to Pachacamac and held out his fist, punching Pachacamac in the face. He repeatedly punched him in the face and his stomach, and kicked him in the back of the head that shot him towards the ground.

Pachacamac's face slid across the dirt, and before he could get up, Knuckles took Pachacamac's staff and held it to the leader's neck.

"It's over Pachacamac," he said. "I beat you." He walked back into the ring before the timer could count to ten, and when he did, the crowd cheered happily for Knuckles. Knuckles kept his eyes locked on Pachacamac and made his way over to him. Pachacamac was coughing heavily.

"Looks like I'm the new leader now," Knuckles told him, but instead of holding up the staff, he held out his hand. "Like I said, I'm not a killer." Pachacamac glared at him, before grabbing the staff from Knuckles' hand. Knuckles fought with him over it.

"I may hate you for all you have done, but it is only because I know deep down that you were right about me," He looked up at Knuckles. "Take care of them..."

"Pachacamac no!" Knuckles yelled, but Pachacamac gripped the staff and stabbed the bottom point into his chest. Knuckles had let go, but couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. He didn't expect Pachacamac to kill himself, neither did the silent audience.

"Knuckles..." Chaos called out. Knuckles looked over at him, then back at Pachacamac several times. He made his way over to Chaos and unchained him.

"Chaos...I didn't-"

"I know you didn't kill him," He said. "We all witnessed it." Knuckles put his hand on Chaos's head and healed all of his bruises.

"Thank you," Chaos told him. "This may have turned out slightly different than the old tale, but I suppose as long as the results remain the same, I should be proud. And I am VERY proud of you." Chaos held up Knuckles' hand. The crowd began to clap.

"Chief Knuckles, your brand new leader!" Chaos said happily. He laughed and clapped for Knuckles. Knuckles smiled, but as he looked around, he saw Tikal still lying in the glass coffin.

"Tikal..." He ran over to her as he lifted the glass up and held her head up in his arm. He placed a hand over her stomach, at this point, coming out of his hyper form. Tikal began to move as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Knuckles?" She asked. She smiled and put her hand on his cheek. "How could it be?" Knuckles put his hand over hers.

"It doesn't matter now," he said with a smile. "I'm home." Tikal got up and hugged Knuckles as she laughed. Everyone cheered louder when they saw that the princess was alive. Knuckles looked over at Phoenix, whom was smiling at him and winked.

Tikal pulled away and looked into Knuckles' purple eyes. She then smiled when Chaos approached them. "Chaos...what happened while I was asleep?"

"Long story my dear," He said. "But let's just leave it as Knuckles is now the clan's new Chief, unless of course, you wish to take control from here." Tikal smiled at Knuckles.

"I think Knuckles would be best at it," She said. Knuckles slightly blushed and rubbed his nose.

"I should probably tell you that I'm not very good with showing my feelings around girls," He said. "I've known animals all my life." Tikal giggled.

"It's alright, we have time to fix that," Tikal stood up alongside Knuckles as they made their way out onto the field. The seven chaos emeralds began to surround them.

"Everyone," Knuckles began. "I like to thank all of you for your support. My first order of business is to get you guys out of this realm and bring you all back into the real world. The seven chaos emeralds are back where they belong, and they will be able to take us back onto Angel Island where we belong." Chaos smiled.

"Is everybody ready?" He asked. Everyone cheered. Chaos held his hands in the air as the chaos emeralds began to glow brighter. They shot out beams of light, and eventually a shockwave towards everyone. It was then, everyone disappeared.

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><p>Location: Angel Island<p>

Year: 2014

Knuckles, Tikal, and Shade stood in front the crowd. The crowd was separated by his clan and the Nocturnus Clan.

"From this day forward, we are no longer in battle with Nocturnus. From here on out, we shall live in peace amongst one another and become one. The past is the past, and today starts the beginning of a brand new future.

A lot has happened between our two clans many years ago, but I say we forgive and forget, as none of it had anything to do with us personally. So Shade of the Nocturnus, I ask that we shake hands as a seal for us to live in peace."

"I shall," Shade said with a smile as she shook Knuckles' hand.

"Welcome home," Knuckles said to her. Everyone cheered and shook hands amongst each other with the Nocturnus clan. Knuckles looked around and noticed the absence of Phoenix and Chaos. He turned around and spotted them in a distance, and didn't hesitate to go over.

"Phoenix?" Knuckles looked at Chaos. He was no longer an echidna anymore. He was a water creature again. "Chaos..."

"We were just saying our final goodbyes," Phoenix told him. "I'm going to miss you Chaos." She hugged Chaos again. When she pulled away, she looked at Knuckles.

"I guess I'll see you later then huh?" She asked. Knuckles smiled and hugged her.

"I guess so," he told her. "I'm gonna miss you Phoenix. I can't thank you and Chaos enough for helping me find my family."

"We're just glad the legend came true. For a second there, I was afraid you wouldn't make it. I mean..." She pulled away and smirked. "You are an old man after all..." Knuckles chuckled.

"I'm not as old as you think," He said with a smile. "Go back home now. I'll be seeing you soon."

"Bye dad." Phoenix looked over at Chaos as he held his hands in the air and the emeralds surrounded him. The emeralds shot out beams of power at Phoenix, and in a flash of light, she disappeared. Knuckles looked down, but Chaos put his hand on his back and led him back to the tribe.

"I know," Knuckles said. "I'll see her soon, but I'm gonna miss her." He looked at Chaos. "And what will you be doing this whole time? I don't want you to overwork yourself." Chaos shook his head as he made his way over to the Master Emerald. He stood next to it and slowly dripped away until the water filled up around the emerald.

Just then, a group of singing chao began to appear, and they cheered happily when they saw the water, each taking a sip for themselves. Knuckles smiled at the sight as he remembered what Chaos told him, about how he used his ability to supply fresh water to his chao friends. His thoughts were interrupted when Tikal appeared behind him.

"So..." She said. "This is what's left of Mystic Ruins huh?" She looked at the chao and smiled. "At least Chaos is back where he belongs. It's great to know he's continuing his deed to protect us and supply water." She looked at Knuckles. "So what are your next orders for the tribe?"

"Well," he began. "Before I found you guys, my original idea was to rebuild a pillar for the Master Emerald. But now that the whole tribe is here, and grown with our Nocturnus newcomers, I think we'll have to expand the plans and make sure everyone has their own home." He picked up the blueprints he made that lie near the stone bricks.

"But I'm just not sure if everyone will be willing to do construction. I mean...I don't want to make people think I'm bossing them around or anything." Tikal smiled.

"Well you are the Chief after all," she said. "Tell everyone about your plans. I'm sure there will be volunteers to help out. Maybe everyone will, seeing as though we all seek to have shelter anyways." Knuckles nodded.

"I suppose so." He turned around as he watched the tribe talk amongst each other. He made his way over beside Tikal and cleared his throat as he patiently waited for everyone to settle down.

"My fellow tribe members," He began. "My first order of business was to bring you all back home, and here we stand on the soil of Angel Island. My second order of business was to make amends with our Nocturnus brothers, and at last live in peace amongst each other as one big family. I will now propose my third order of business.

Now that we are here, you may notice the absence of buildings or tents. Might I say, as Guardian of the Master Emerald for some time now, I had to live here exposed to the outdoors. No house. No nothing.

But I stand here as your Chief now, and I want the best for everyone and to take good care of my people. So my next plan I wish to put into action is shelter. However, I cannot provide that alone, so I humbly ask that some of you will help me make this a possibility. By a show of hands, might I see anyone who wishes to volunteer in this hardworking job? You will be well rewarded for following up on your duties."

"I wish to volunteer," Shade said as she held her hand up. Once her hand was raised, all of the Nocturnus soldiers raised theirs. When they looked around, a majority of the Knuckles Clan had their hands raised as well. Nearly everyone had their hands raised, bringing a huge grin to Knuckles' face.

"Alright then!" He said. "We will need lots of supplies, and with the technology of the Nocturnus Clan, we shall be able to get started right away. I have the blue prints already planned out, and I will assign groups with leaders to be in charge of certain jobs. Thank you everyone!"

The crowd cheered with mere joy for Knuckles as he once again delivered for them. Not only were they in good hands of an actual good leader, but now they were free to live in peace and start new lives. It was a brand new beginning for the echidna race, even for Knuckles, whom after all this time, finally had a real reason to call Angel Island home.

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><p>We will see Knuckles and the Echidna tribe again soon. The next chapter will resume with Sonic and Amy. Thanks so much for reading! :) <strong>Reviews are appreciated!<strong>


	31. Chapter 31

We're halfway to the end guys! :D

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><p>Location: Eggmanland<p>

Year: 2014

With a stroke of luck, Sonic managed to find a wooden paddleboat at a dock near the old building ruins. By now, he was paddling the boat out at sea. He felt really uneasy being near so much water, but he tried to keep his focus on the pink hedgehog sitting in front of him.

They were both silent for a while. They were alone in the dark with no real surroundings other than the water. Sonic wanted to say something, but he wasn't sure how or what to say. He continued to stare until he put his attention on Amy's dress. The sight of Eggman's logo at the bottom of it made him feel guilty, but there wasn't much to say about it now. She didn't remember a thing.

"So..." Amy broke the silence. "How long is it before we get home?" Sonic continued to paddle.

"Eh...a while at this rate..." He wasn't sure whether or not to tell Amy that he had no idea where he was going. Amy sighed as she laid her head down on her hands.

"What's it like?" She asked. "This 'home' place?" She looked at him. "Is it beautiful? Are there more of us?" Sonic scratched his head. He couldn't remember a time he had to describe what "home" was like.

"Well...we have friends back there that are similar to us," He told her. "And you live just outside of the city. You live in a nice house near the lake. It's pretty beautiful." Amy looked intrigued.

"How come we aren't there right now? What were we doing on that island?"

"Uh..." Sonic looked up as he spotted some heavy clouds flooding the sky. They could hear thunder, and Amy screamed at the first clash of lightning.

"What is that?!" She asked. "It's so loud and scary!"

"It's a storm," He turned around as he saw the waves getting bigger. "We better get ready for a rough ride because this storm looks like it's going to be a while! This boat isn't meant to handle waves like this let alone bad weather!" Just then, another lightning bolt struck, making Amy scream with fear.

"Hang on!" Sonic held her hand. It was now pouring rain. "Hide under the seat Amy!" Amy did so as she tried to cover her head with her other hand. Sonic peeked out; hoping to see a sign of land anywhere, but his view became blocked by high waves that were twenty feet or higher. He tried to keep his cool, but being around the water almost made him sick to his stomach.

_"Come on Sonic,"_ he thought to himself. _"Just stay calm. We're gonna get out of this. We'll find land soon. We just need to survive this storm somehow and we're set."_

Shadow and Espio were inside of Eggman's lab. They could hear the thunder from outside. Shadow groaned.

"Just perfect," He said annoyed. "As if losing the emeralds wasn't a problem, now we have to fight our way off this island through a storm." Espio looked through a window in the hall. He could see the fire in the distance starting to spread out.

"We have a storm and a fire on our hands," He told Shadow. "We can't waste time. We need to find something to get us out of here."

"I think I just did," Shadow stood beside a wall with a red button attached to it. After pushing the button, the wall opened up and revealed a secret room. There was an escape plane on the inside. Shadow smirked.

"Looks like that Eggman's good for something after all," He grabbed the keys off the wall. "Now let's go!" Shadow and Espio boarded the escape plane and fastened themselves in. The wall was lifting for their escape.

"Have you ever flown a plane before?" Espio asked. Shadow began to drive it.

"No," He said. "First time actually. Unless you would consider counting the pod I was sealed into many years ago." Espio gulped.

"You mean the pod in which you crashed here in?" He put his hands over his stomach. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

"You'll get over it. Hyaahhh!" Shadow by now drove the plane off the ramp. Espio watched as they fell down and covered his eyes, but Shadow managed to pull the plane back into the air and flew it out in the distance. He chuckled at the sight of Espio in the rear-view mirror.

"You alright back there?" He asked with a grin. Espio peaked through his fingers. When he saw how smooth they were flying, he cleared his throat.

"Yeah yeah," He said. "Just a little nervous that's all."

"Nervous?" Shadow asked. "Nervous about what?" He smirked and purposely flew the plane down. "Nervous I'd do this?" Espio held onto his seat.

"Shadow come on! That's not funny!" Shadow continued to fly it further down. They were only a few seconds away from going in the water.

"SHADOW!" Shadow laughed as he pulled the plane back up.

"I think you and I are going to have a lot of fun during this plane ride," Shadow told him. Espio's face turned green as he held his stomach.

"Don't count on it," He answered. Shadow smiled. He was almost tempted to fly the plane downwards again, but it wasn't worth getting puked on by Espio and his airsickness.

The storm was almost over, but the two hedgehogs were still out at sea dealing with the remaining parts of it. The boat was filling up to the point they were starting to sink, that was until Sonic purposely flipped it over.

Amy was able to swim, and it didn't take her long to reach the boat. Sonic tried to hold his breath, but he was slowly losing consciousness. He couldn't swim. All he was doing was sinking.

Suddenly, the pink hedgehog dove back into the water. She had the sinking blue hedgehog in sight and reached out her hand to him. Sonic managed to reach his hand out to her, allowing her to grab it and pull him next to her as she swam to the top for air. She swam back towards the paddleboat and pulled the both of them back inside.

"You okay?" Amy asked him. Sonic lie on the wooden floor of the boat. He was coughing a lot.

"Yeah..." he said. He managed to open his eyes halfway and looked at Amy. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

The two hedgehogs kept their silence and both decided to rest. They hid under their seats to keep their faces dry. As the rain lightened up, they found it easier to fall asleep.

About two hours later, Sonic awoke from his nap. The sky finally cleared up to reveal a full moon and stars, but what was a more beautiful sight was the land just a few yards away from where they were.

"Yes!" Sonic looked around the boat until he remembered he must have lost the paddles from before. He used his hands and tried to paddle over to shore. He didn't want to wake Amy, but seeing as though he was only turning the boat, he had no other choice.

"Amy," He tapped her arm. "Wake up." The pink hedgehog moaned and slightly opened her eyes.

"What is it?" She asked.

"I need your help," Sonic told her. "I see land, but we don't have the paddles anymore. You have to help me paddle the boat to shore." Amy yawned, but eventually got up to look at the land.

"Wow that's pretty..." Amy said.

"Yeah I know. Come on!" They both paddled the boat to shore. They both didn't bother to notice that they meant 'pretty' two different ways. Amy was fond of the scenery, but Sonic was fond of finally getting away from the water.

Once they finally made it to shore, they didn't hesitate to get off and throw themselves on the sand. Sonic turned to his side, staring at Amy whom was about two feet away from him. He felt his cheeks get a little warm.

"You okay Amy?" He asked, finally breaking the silence. "I'm sorry about earlier. It's just I had to flip the boat over to get the water out and-"

"I'm fine Sonic," she told him. "I understand. I would have done the same thing." She looked at him. "But if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were afraid of the water." Sonic could feel his cheeks getting hotter. He turned away.

"Why do you say that?" He asked.

"Because you can't swim."

"Yeah well..." Sonic looked back at her. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were afraid of thunder." Amy smiled.

"What gave that away? My screaming?" She asked. She then pulled herself up and walked towards the trees. Sonic sat up and looked back at her.

"Where are you going?" He asked. "You can get lost in there!" He stood up and went after her. "Wait!"

Sonic ran into the trees and looked around. For a split second he thought he lost her, but he saw through the trees and noticed she stood near a large white fountain. He hid behind one of the trees and continued to stare. Usually, the first thought that would come into someone's mind would be the question of where they are, but for Sonic, he couldn't help but admire the pink hedgehog.

"Wow..." He said to himself. "She's...beautiful..." He watched as the pink hedgehog took off her black headband and shook her quills. He hid behind the tree and looked down at his feet. He felt his cheeks get warm again, but now he felt his heart pound harder than usual. He placed his hand on his chest as he felt the sensation.

_"Why is my heart beating so fast?"_ He looked forward. _"I mean...I knew there was always something about her that I liked, but I shouldn't feel these things over a tiny little crush...unless..."_ He looked back at her and smiled. _"Unless maybe this wasn't just some crush anymore."_ He thought back to the incidents that occurred at Tails' workshop and the fight he had with Shadow in the woods.

_"I mean...I don't know much about love, but I'm sure I wouldn't have reacted the way that I did if Amy didn't mean much to me."_He hid behind the tree again. _"What was that anyway? That anger I possessed? Why did I flip out so easily for? They were only trying to tell me how I felt, but for some reason, I just couldn't find myself to believe it._

_Even so, it's no excuse for my behavior. But I felt like a completely different person when it happened...almost as if I wasn't myself at all...but if I wasn't myself...then...who could I have been?..."_ Sonic's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a peeping noise next to him. He saw a blue flicky staring at him from a hanging branch.

"Gah!" He jumped at first, but then eventually let out a laugh. "What are you doing sneaking up on me little guy?" The flicky put his wings on his hips and glanced over at Amy. His expression meant, _"I should ask you the same thing."_

"What are you doing up in the middle of the night anyway?" Sonic asked him. He then started to pet him. "I thought you little guys were only up during the day." The bird smiled and enjoyed being pet by Sonic.

"Me and that pink hedgehog over there washed up on the shore. We've had a real rough ride after a terrible storm out at sea. I don't suppose you can help us get back to Station Square can you?" The bird looked at him and nodded. Sonic smiled.

"That's great then little guy," He said. He looked back at Amy. "But I think we should save the trip for tomorrow morning. Amy should rest." The flicky noticed the way Sonic stared. He then peeped at Sonic as if he understood what was going on. He grinned, winked, and sucked his teeth, meaning that Amy was catch herself and that he had good taste.

"It's just a shame," Sonic said, now starting to frown. "She has amnesia after I saved her from a battle I had earlier. She used to be in love with me and now..." Sonic sighed and hid behind the tree again. "Now she doesn't even know who I am." The flicky frowned. Sonic sunk to the ground.

"I don't know what to do," he said. "I've always ran away from my feelings. Now I have to make her fall in love with me for the sake of the future and I just don't know how."

The flicky rapidly started peeping at Sonic. He flew off for a few seconds and came back with a red rose. He then started peeping again.

"You think I should give this to her?" He asked. The sight of the rose made him remember his last attempt when he tried to tell her how he felt. Although it was a misunderstanding, he feared that Amy would turn him down. He took the rose and sighed.

"I don't think it's that easy little guy," He said. "She might find me weird or something. I mean, she probably is already uncomfortable enough being stuck with a guy she doesn't even know. To try telling her how I feel, it's just..." He sighed. "I don't even know anymore. I just want to go home and forget about all this for one day. One thing's for sure," he looked back at the pink hedgehog. "There's no escaping fate this time."

The flicky landed on Sonic's shoulder and peeped. His rapid peeping and his facial expression said that Sonic needed to have confidence. Although Sonic couldn't speak bird, his rapid movement and peeping made him understand what he was saying. _"You're Sonic the Hedgehog! You don't admit defeat! You need to stand up and have some confidence!"_

"You know what?" Sonic stood up. "You're right." The bird peeped and nodded. "I mean I am a world hero right? I do save the day a lot." He grabbed the rose. "I'm much tougher than this, so I can easily tell a girl how I feel!" The bird peeped.

_"That's right!"_

"Okay," Sonic looked back at Amy and hid behind the tree again. He smiled and swooned. "She's so cute." He looked back at her. "Isn't she just adorable when she plays with her quills?" The flicky peeped in anger and nudged Sonic to move.

"Ugh okay okay, I'm going...yeash..." Sonic took a step before looking back at the bird. "How's my hair?"

_"What hair?!"_ The flicky pecked at his arm for him to go.

"Okay alright! Jeez!" Sonic looked back at Amy and sighed. "Okay...here I go..." He stopped again and looked at the bird. "Wait. What do I say?"

_"GO!"_

"Alright! Sorry!" Sonic walked forward and cleared his throat. He hid the rose behind his back and slowly walked over to the pink hedgehog.

"Hey," He greeted. Amy looked at him and put her headband back on. Sonic sat next to her.

"What are you doing up?" She asked. "I would have thought you've fallen asleep by now." Sonic let out a small laugh.

"Well I was worried about you," he told her. "You shouldn't wander around a place you've never been to before. It isn't safe."

"Oh I'm sorry," Amy looked at him with a smirk. "I didn't realize you were my father."

"I'm not!" Sonic told her with a smile. "It's just...you know I...don't want you to get hurt." He looked down at his feet. He could feel his cheeks getting hot.

"Where are we anyway?" Amy looked around. "If there is a fountain here, there must be a town close by." She looked at Sonic. "Is this home?" Sonic shook his head.

"No we're not home," he told her. "Home is still pretty far. It might be a few days but..." He looked at her. "Don't you worry. I'll get us there safe and sound." He played with the rose in his hand. Amy didn't notice it.

"It's kind of cold out," She told him. Sonic then remembered the other reason he didn't stay at the beach. He needed firewood.

"I'll take care of that in just a sec," He told her. "But...Amy...I-" Amy looked at him.

"What is that?" She asked him, finally noticing the rose.

"Oh. This?" Sonic chuckled. "It's a rose. I was just about to give it to you. You like it?" He put his hand behind his head and offered the rose to her, but Amy shook her head and backed away a bit.

"No thanks," she told him. "It looks weird." Sonic felt his heart stop for a few seconds. He blushed and looked down.

"Oh...I see..." He sighed and forced a smile. "Well who likes flowers these days anyway?" He wasn't sure if Amy could understand sarcasm, but seeing as though she started to walk away, it was obvious she wasn't taking a hint.

"I'll be at the beach if you need me," She told him. Sonic looked down.

"Yeah. I'll be there in a few minutes!" He looked back towards the trees. The bird shrugged his wings. Sonic sighed and looked at the rose. He couldn't understand why Amy would think the rose looked so weird, amnesia or not. Rose was her last name after all.

"Well..." Sonic picked at the petals. "I guess I can't always win them all." He tossed the remains of the rose on the ground and went back into the forest to look for firewood. Once he found some, he brought them back to the beach and set them up. After a few attempts, he managed to light a fire.

"That's pretty..." Amy said as she admired the flames. Sonic sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Only would a clueless person think fire is more beautiful than a rose," He mumbled, but Amy didn't hear him.

"Is this meant to keep us warm?" She asked. Again, Sonic sighed. He lie on the sand and closed his eyes.

"Yes Amy," He told her. "The fire is meant to keep us warm. Just don't touch it. And try to get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." He opened an eye and looked at the pink hedgehog. She laid her head down and turned away, her back towards Sonic. Sonic turned to lay flat on his back to look at the sky. He let out another sigh.

"Only me," He said, before finally shutting his eyes to fall into slumber. Within a few minutes, both of the hedgehogs were asleep. It was peaceful and quiet to the point you could hear the ocean moving and the fire burning. Sonic then started mumbling in his sleep.

_"I've always loved you..."_

* * *

><p>Hmm...Sonic has a real tough battle ahead of him. But I want to hear what <strong>YOU<strong> guys think. What kind of advice would you give Sonic to make Amy fall in love with him? Maybe your advice might show up in the story. **Post your thoughts in a review and we'll see which of your advices Sonic will take! **:) Hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	32. Chapter 32

We will pick up on our two lovely bats in this chapter, and we will stumble upon some old but familiar faces too. We will resume with our two hedgies later on. :)

Also, thank you for the reviews, and to the person whom mentioned Dark Sonic, I'm glad you caught that. Hang on to that thought if you continue to read the story. And I don't want to use Dark Shadow because of other plans I have for him. Everything will be explained as the story progresses.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Location: Spagonia<p>

Year: 2014

The two bats flew in the star filled sky as they witnessed land finally approaching them. They had been flying for long hours up until now, and Rouge felt nearly wiped out. She couldn't help but wonder why her future self led her to an entirely different continent and town.

"Where are we exactly?" She asked her future self. "This looks nothing like Station Square." Future Rouge smiled.

"It's better than Station Square," Future Rouge told her. "This is the city of Spagonia. It's known for its art and amazing food." She looked at Rouge. "By any chance are you starved? I'd like to make a stop on Baker Street for something to eat."

"Well now that you mention it I guess I am pretty hungry." The two bats landed and walked down the street. They stopped near an outdoor restaurant and sat at a table to look at the menu.

"Hmm," Rouge looked at her future self. "What are you having?" Future Rouge hesitated.

"The spaghetti here looks good," she said. "I hear a lot of people travel from different towns just to try out the pasta here. I think I'm willing to give it a shot."

"Ugh," Rouge looked at her. "You mean to tell me that you're going to eat an entire entree at THIS time of night? All of that will go straight into your thighs by the time we're done." Future Rouge shrugged.

"Just remember that once we're finished here, my side of the future will no longer exist. Therefore..." She looked back at the menu. "I think I'm going to try out a few desserts." Rouge sighed.

"Well I suppose I don't blame ya gorgeous," She said. "If I had the opportunity to eat and not worry about getting fat, I'd probably do the same thing."

"Are you ladies ready?" The waitress took out her notepad. "Welcome to Restaurant Swa. My name is Barbara. What can I get you?"

"I'll take a coffee with vanilla cream," Rouge told her. "And a slice of coffee cake please."

"And you my dear?"

"I'll take a large Chaos Soda and a plate of your spaghetti." Future Rouge closed her menu. "I hear you guys have some amazing pasta here." Barbara laughed.

"Oh gee," she said. "Many of our customers that visit really know how to spread the word around. I'll tell ya; the moment we opened up on the first day we became a hit in just three days flat. Why, I had to help out my husband in the kitchen just to keep business going." She giggled again. "I'll be right out with yours drinks then girls."

"Thanks," The two bats said to her. They looked at each other.

"Isn't she a chatty cat," Rouge said with a sigh. "I asked for a coffee and piece of cake, not about her business."

"Hey be nice," Future Rouge told her. "How often is it that anyone approaches us for a conversation anyway?"

"I suppose you're right." Rouge put back her menu. Barbara then came back with their drinks.

"Thank you Barbara," Future Rouge told her.

"Your orders will be ready soon ladies," she said. "Give it about ten minutes." She walked away to take orders at the other tables. Rouge sipped her coffee.

"Mmm," She closed her eyes. "Now this is something I really needed." She looked at the other tables and noticed there were more customers stopping by. "Seems awfully odd for a restaurant to have business booming at this hour."

"Mmm...speaking of business," Future Rouge put down her soda. "Let's get down to it. I brought you here because there is an amazing opportunity that awaits you. When we're finished here, we ought to stop by the Professor's lab."

"Professor who?" Rouge held her coffee in her hand.

"His name is Professor Pickle. I know him because well..." She put her hand behind her head. "Let's just say at a point in time, me and the Babylon Rogues decided to 'drop in' once and 'borrow' some of his possessions."

"Ha...what a thief," Rouge said with a smirk.

"Hey, I'm helping you change so that doesn't happen."

"Whatever you say hon."

After a few minutes, they eventually received their orders and ate their meals. Once they finished eating and paid for their meals, they flew into the sky and headed towards the lab. They stopped when they heard an elderly call for help beneath them.

"Somebody's in trouble!" Future Rouge pointed out.

"But where is it coming from?" Rouge asked. After a few seconds of scanning the area, they located the source.

"It's coming from that alleyway," Future Rouge directed. "Come on!" The two bats flew down towards the alley. They saw a man in black running off with a folder and keys. He stopped in his tracks when the two bats landed in front of them.

"Hey you!" Future Rouge pointed at him. "Don't move another step you crook. You return those items back to the person you took them from or else!"

"Or else what?" He let out a laugh. "What are two weak women gonna do if I don't?"

"My now," Rouge crossed her arms. "Aren't you being a naughty little boy? If I didn't know any better Rouge, I'd say he wasn't taught any manners when he was growing up."

"I agree, and it's clear that he's the type to underestimate us women. Perhaps we ought to teach him a lesson."

"Back off you lousy broads!" The thief attempted to run around them, but the two bats jumped into action as they kicked him in the stomach and across the face. Once the cops arrived to take him away, the two bats took the items and ran back to the alleyway. There was an old man struggling to get up.

"You okay?" Future Rouge asked. She helped him up and gave him his walking stick. The old man coughed.

"Thank you for your help," he said. Future Rouge gasped.

"Wait a minute. Professor Pickle? What were you doing out so late?"

"Well I decided to stop by the restaurant for some of Gigi's cucumber sandwiches, and as I was on my way home, a thief came out of nowhere and robbed me for documents and keys." He chuckled. "How odd for him to want such things? You'd think he would steal my wallet instead."

"Here's your stuff back then sir," Rouge handed him the folder and his keys.

"Ah yes, thank you. These documents are very sensitive." He looked at the two bats. "Have we met before?"

"I'm Rouge the Bat. This is also Rouge the Bat, but she's from the future. Don't tell anyone." Professor Pickle looked at Future Rouge and back at Rouge.

"Why...but that's..." He sighed. "Never mind then. I won't ask. I appreciate you girls helping me out. I don't suppose you ladies would be interested in stopping by my lab by any chance? Seeing as though you saved me, it's only fair to discuss a favor I can return for you."

"Sure thing Professor," Future Rouge said with a smile. She looked at her present self and nudged her. "This is it."

After some time, they arrived at the Professor's lab. They were sitting down sipping tea as they made conversation with the Professor.

"By any chance, do you ladies have any connection to Sonic the Hedgehog?" He asked. They nodded.

"He's a friend of mine," Rouge told him. "How do you know him?" Professor Pickle let out a chuckle.

"Why, I aided him when the world split apart. I supplied him information from the Gaia manuscripts to help him put the world back into place. How are he and his friends doing might I ask?"

"Well I haven't really seen them for some time now, but I assure you that all is well for them." Rouge told him.

"Ah, well that's pleasant to hear," He cleared his throat. "Now let's jump into what I wanted to offer for your heroic efforts. I work with a private agency that works to solve many crime cases. They are the best in the business, so much so that they were allowed to relocate and have their own headquarters to focus on cases on their own.

However, the headquarters is only composed of two agents. They are most intelligent and the best out there, but still, it is just them. The poor fellows are cramped with cases that are sent to them by the government and could use the extra help."

"That's perfect!" Future Rouge said with a smile. "Rouge is a government spy back at Station Square. She's totally up for the job!"

"Yeah I suppose I'm willing to help your buddies out," she said.

"Excellent! Well it's a good thing I bumped into you girls isn't it? You ladies are familiar with the work so this should work out quite well. And just so you know, this is greater than being a spy for Station Square. Why, this offer allows agents to go international."

"International huh?" Rouge asked. "That _is_ better than what I'm doing now." She smiled. "That's a chance for me to travel all around the world. Imagine being the best in the agency and working on cases all around the globe!" She held out her hand. "Professor, you got yourself a deal. I'll take it!"

"Swell my darling!" After shaking her hand, he cleared his throat and grabbed the folder. "I suppose I should introduce you to the boys then. Follow me this way please."

The girls followed behind the Professor as they entered the library. He pulled on one of the books, to which the bookcase opened and revealed a small room secured with bullet proof glass. There was a panel on the side of it, and after entering the code, the glass door opened. Once they were in the elevator, they went downwards and came to a stop. They were at the headquarters.

"This is incredible," Rouge said in awe. They followed Professor Pickle down a black metal ramp.

"Girls," He began. "I'd like to introduce you to one of the best agents in the business." A red and yellow armadillo wearing a black suit and tie walked over to them. He took out his wallet and revealed to them his badge.

"Special Agent Mighty the Armadillo of the Mobian Crime Investigation Agency, also known as the MCIA. Pleased to make your acquaintance." He held out his hand.

"Rouge the Bat, spy of GUN from Station Square." She looked at her future self. "This is also Rouge, but she's from the future." Mighty raised an eyebrow, but shook his head and carried on with the introduction.

"Rouge saved me from an incident earlier. I thought it would be beneficial to give her the offer to work in the agency, seeing as though she's familiar with the field," Professor Pickle told him.

"Excellent Professor," Mighty said with a smile. "I will take the lead from here. Did you receive the case file for us?"

"Ah yes how rude of me," Professor Pickle handed Mighty the folder. "It was thanks to these girls that the crook was caught before reading the information. Everything on this file is highly sensitive you know."

"Beautiful. Thank you Professor," Mighty closed the folder and looked at the girls. Professor Pickle left the room at this point.

"Shall we start off with a coffee by any chance?" Mighty asked. They shook their heads.

"We already had enough tea from talking with Professor Pickle," Future Rouge told him. Mighty chuckled.

"Alright then," He said. "You may have a seat if you wish. Before we get down to business it would be nice if I got to know you...or you girls...or..." He wasn't sure how to refer to them since they were technically the same person.

"Well as I said, I am a government spy. I'm also a good treasure hunter, that's, if me and ol' Knuckles aren't going after the same thing and fighting over it." Rouge lie back on her chair as she tried to think of anything else to say.

"Did you just say Knuckles?" Mighty asked her. Rouge nodded.

"Why? You know him?"

"Yes," Mighty looked down. "I don't suppose you know the Chaotix Detective Agency do you?"

"I'm familiar with them," Rouge told him. She raised an eyebrow. "How do you know these guys?"

"I was part of the Chaotix a long time ago," Mighty explained. "It was Knuckles and Vector that found me and took me in. I was a member of the agency for a while alongside my friend Ray. I'm also familiar with Sonic. I'm assuming yous have already met?"

Rouge nodded. "That blue boy is everywhere. Anyone whom hasn't met him is probably living under a rock." Mighty chuckled.

"Yes indeed," He said. "I was very well acquainted with Sonic and Knuckles and the Chaotix. We were great friends for a while."

"What happened?" Future Rouge asked. "Why aren't you with the Chaotix anymore?"

"As I mentioned before, myself and my best friend Ray were with the Chaotix for a while. It was at a time when we were getting showered with cases and reports. Vector had assigned us one case in particular for Ray and I to work on. It was a missing person's case file.

Ray and I were gone for a few months just to solve this case. Eventually, we hit a flag that led us to an underground hideout where the missing person was being held captive by a group of thieves. We finally arrested them and set the man free. That man was Professor Pickle."

"What did thieves want with the professor?" Future Rouge asked.

"The professor is worth much money. If he doesn't have the money, he knows where it is. He's often a target by many bad guys for both money and important documents and files.

But anyway, back to the story. The Professor was so thrilled to be freed; he made us an offer we couldn't refuse. He had connections with the Spagonian government, and he was able to get us jobs to work in the MCIA. We would make more money than what we made from working at the Chaotix, and due to personal events, I was poor and needed to make a living somehow.

So Ray and I took him up on the opportunity and we boarded a plane there to Spagonia. After a couple years of nonstop case solving, we were well rewarded for our hard work and skills that we had permission to set up our own headquarters that we could be in charge of. Since then, Ray and I have been here. We receive cases through the system and through the professor." Mighty sighed.

"I love my job, but things happened so fast, I regret not being able to say goodbye to Sonic and the others. I just disappeared without a trace, and I can't imagine how much they worried about Ray and I at the time." He looked down. "I always meant to go back and visit, but there's so much work to do here, I just could never find the time."

"Well according to the professor, he told us you guys needed the extra help," Rouge said. Mighty nodded.

"Indeed," Mighty told her. "There have been a lot of crimes happening lately all around the country. The agency is nearly flooded with missing persons reports, crime reports, just plenty cases flooding the system. And of course, since we're special agents, we are getting these cases in our computers every minute. Ray and I just can't do the work ourselves anymore, so we need all the help we can get." He looked at his wrist watch.

"I have to go in a few minutes," He looked at the girls. "Ray and I managed to solve another case not too long ago. We captured three of the most wanted crooks in the country and I have some business I need to take care of with them before I do anything else." Suddenly, a yellow flying squirrel walked into the room. He wore a white shirt and black tie and held a folder in his hands.

"Mighty, you wanted this?" He asked. He handed him the folder.

"Yes, thank you." He looked at the girls. "Ladies, this is my best friend Ray. Ray, this is Rouge the Bat. She's a government spy for GUN at Station Square."

"Nice to meet you," Ray said as he shook her hand. He looked at Future Rouge and shook her hand too. "And you are?"

"I'm also Rouge," she said. Ray raised an eyebrow and looked at Mighty, whom was smiling and shaking his head.

"Don't ask," He said. Ray chuckled.

"So did you receive the file from the professor?" He asked. Mighty nodded and handed him the folder.

"Since Rouge is one of us now, I want you to introduce the case to them while I'm gone. I will be back hopefully within an hour at most to catch up on the file."

"Perfect. Sounds good. We'll see you then."

"Thank you." Mighty made his exit out of the room while Ray, Rouge, and Future Rouge made their way to a table and discussed the case.

Mighty input a code to open up a secure room where a yellow polar bear, green duck, and purple weasel were waiting in a cell. They had handcuffs on and sat down at a table and looked at Mighty. Mighty closed the door and sat in front of them.

"Bark, Bean, Fang," He began. "It's been a while hasn't it?" He placed the folder Ray gave him on the table and pulled out a notebook and pen. He took some notes and looked up at the crooks.

"Well then, after all these years, you guys finally end up here," He looked at the files in the folder. "According to these files, you guys were wanted for armed robberies and thievery in Station Square." He smirked as he looked up at the boys. "But now you are here in Spagonia. Why is that?"

"Look don't do this to us okay?" Fang said annoyed. "Ya got us so just turn us in already." Mighty raised an eyebrow.

"Really? That's what you want?" Mighty asked. Bean sighed.

"Look what do you want from us?" He asked. "You guys already took back everything that we had and you caught us. There's nothing left that you need to know." Bark nodded.

"We've been at this for years now," He said. "Now it's done and we're caught. Just turn us in and we can carry on with the consequences."

"So you want me to turn you guys in before you've even listened to a word I said?" Mighty asked. Fang rolled his eyes.

"There's nothing to say," He told him. "It's done."

"Look guys, I'm gonna relate to you," Mighty told them. "I came from a family of thieves that robbed other people just to put food on the table for me as a child. They were caught and I was on my own for a while, but luckily for me, I managed to make a living when I was found by some good people that gave me a home and job that I could make a living from."

"What's your point?" Bark asked him.

"I believe in second chances," He began. "Whether you want it or not is entirely up to you. I may get in trouble for making this offer, but then again if you boys agree to it and help us out and do a good job, I'm sure a lot of this can be worked out."

"What could you possibly need our help for?" Bean asked.

"We make plenty of money in this agency because of the work we do," Mighty said. "Ray and I are the best agents in the agency. Lately, we've been getting a lot of crime reports that we no longer can't do on our own anymore, and we already have plenty of agents already out in the field, international, assigned with their own cases. We need some extra recruits to help us take down some bad guys."

"Have you forgotten that you are talking to a group of bad guys?" Fang asked. Bark and Bean nodded.

"Are you truly that desperate that you want US to help YOU?" Bean added. Mighty sighed.

"I'm well aware of the crimes you guys have committed," He said. "But as far as I'm concerned, you boys haven't done any harm to anyone. You just continued to pursue many wrong doings for your own needs. Like I said, I was born into a family of thieves. Lucky for me, I was granted the opportunity to make money rather than being forced to steal it to survive. You boys clearly were never offered such a job, so I'm willing to be the first to actually help you guys out."

"How much are we talking in terms of money?" Fang asked. Mighty glared at him.

"Enough," he said. "I won't explain further until I hear what you boys have to say first."

"I mean," Bean looked at Fang and Bark. "If it keeps me out of prison, I guess I'm willing to take you up on it." Bark nodded.

"I don't see how I could refuse," He said. "I won't have to go to jail and I can make a living at the same time. I'm up for it." They all looked at Fang.

"I'll do it," he said. "I'm listening." Mighty smiled.

"Perfect," He said. "We are being put on a case that's in need of focus right now. If you guys help us and do a good job, the government and agency will be willing to sort things out involving your crimes. However, don't think that you can take advantage of us so easily." Fang rolled his eyes.

"This was the catch I was waiting for," He said.

"Just because I'm making this offer in no way means that I'm stupid. If you guys participate, we WILL be watching your every move. And if you guys do anything to interfere with the case work, you boys will not only lose this job, but you WILL go to jail. Are we clear on that?" They nodded.

"Yes," They each said quietly.

"You three are wanted by two countries right now. It would be easy to turn you in and close this file and move on, but I decided to be a nice guy and offer you the chance to make up for all the wrong doings you guys did in your lives. This is the opportunity to turn over a new leaf and turn yourselves around and actually do well and be paid for it. I'm telling you right now, don't screw up this chance."

"We won't," Bean said frowning. Mighty cleared his throat.

"Very well then," He unlocked the handcuffs from their wrists. "Shall we meet the team then?" They nodded, and followed Mighty back to the main room.

* * *

><p>They're baaaaack! :) Hope you enjoyed the chapter. <strong>Reviews appreciated!<strong>


	33. Chapter 33

I wasn't fond of this chapter, but I promise you guys it will be better! I'm sorry!

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><p>Location: Unknown<p>

Year: 2014

Sonic managed to wake up when he heard the sounds of flickies chirping. When he opened his eyes, he saw the light blue flicky he talked to last night standing on his stomach. He yawned and sat up to stretch out his arms, and he held out his finger for the bird to stand on.

"What's up little guy?" He asked. "How'd you sleep?" The flicky smiled and nodded his head as he peeped, symbolizing that he slept well. Sonic chuckled.

"Well that's good," He said. He looked over at Amy, whom was still sound asleep. "You're still gonna help us get back home right?" The bird nodded.

"Should I go and wake her up then?" He asked. The bird flew around Sonic as he stood up from the sand and stretched again. He walked over to the sleeping pink hedgehog and put his hand on her arm. He lightly shook her awake.

"Amy?" He asked. "Come on Amy, it's time to wake up." The pink hedgehog opened her eyes as she looked at Sonic, whom was smiling at her. He chuckled.

"I'm sorry to have to wake you," He said as he took a step back to give her room. "But I promise once I get you home, you can sleep in all you want." Amy yawned.

"What time is it?" She asked. "Do you think we can stop by some place to eat before we do anything?" Sonic put his hand on his stomach. It started to growl.

"Yeah I have no problem with that," He said. "I am pretty hungry." He looked at the pink hedgehog and held out his hand to help her up, but Amy managed to stand up on her own. It was nice to see her do things on her own for a change, but it made Sonic feel bad, but he decided to shake it off and look at the bird.

"Hey buddy," He said. "Think you can take us to the nearest stop for a bite to eat?" The bird peeped and smiled as he led the way. The two hedgehogs followed behind him. After the rough night they had, food was the best way to make up for it.

Shadow was still flying the plane halfway across the ocean by now. The flight was rather quiet when Espio fell asleep for a few hours, but eventually he woke up. He yawned and stretched. Shadow smirked.

"Good morning," He said. "Enjoy your nap?" Espio looked out the window.

"You mean we're still flying?" He asked. He looked at Shadow. "How long was I asleep?"

"A few hours," He answered. "This ride is gonna be a while. The plane isn't meant to travel to far destinations, and the last thing I want to do is try accelerating just to get you home." He looked at the fuel gauge. It was four dashes away from empty. "But we're going to have to make a stop at the next visual of land we see. We're almost out of fuel." Espio sighed and laid back on his chair.

"It's alright," He said. "Besides, I'm in no hurry to get home. Not like I have anything better to do."

"Why's that?" Shadow asked.

"We haven't been getting any cases recently," Espio told him. "So because there's no work for us to do, Vector put his focus on trying to spend more time with Vanilla. And Charmy," He sat up. "Charmy's growing up. I mean, it's no secret that he has a thing for Vanilla's daughter." He looked down at his feet.

"Can't say I blame them though," He said. "I mean, who wants to stand around in an office all day with nothing to do and be bored when you can hang out with friends and be happy? I'd do the same thing if it were me, but I'm a loner whenever Vector and Charmy aren't around."

"Is that so?" Shadow asked him. Espio nodded.

"Don't get me wrong, I have friends," Espio told him. "But I'm not around them the way I was with Vector and Charmy. I'm not used to it." He sighed. "It'd be nice to go out and have fun with somebody for a change, but it's nice to do it with someone whom you can relate too." He looked at Shadow. "And what about you?"

"What about me?" He asked.

"I'm not well acquainted with you," Espio told him. "But whenever we do meet, usually you're by yourself." Shadow shrugged.

"What's the problem with that?" He asked.

"Doesn't that bother you?" Espio rested his arms on his knees. "I mean, there's nobody I know in the world who can possibly be okay with being on their own." Shadow chuckled.

"Well you met somebody," he said. "Being alone isn't a big deal. I don't mind it at all. It gives me more time to focus on myself and try to figure out my meaning in life, figure out why I'm here."

"But haven't you ever wanted to just enjoy yourself?" Espio asked him. "You know, hang out with friends and have some fun?" Shadow shook his head.

"I worry of friends becoming distractions," He said. "If I were to ever let my guard down, I could miss a key portion to my destiny. So I try not to interact with many people unless I truly have to. You'll only ever see me around Sonic and the others, but that's only when they need my help in battle. Otherwise, I choose to walk alone."

"I just don't understand," Espio told him. "How can you do that? How can you possibly be happy about that kind of lifestyle? I mean I can't imagine-"

"I never said I was happy about it," Shadow said, interrupting Espio's statement. Espio stood quiet.

"I only said I was _okay_ with it. Never did I say I was happy about it." Shadow had anger in his voice. "Look, I don't know much about my past, or even who I am, but that's why I choose not to get involved with anyone. My greatest fear is missing that opportunity to find the answer to all of my questions."

"Shadow..." Espio looked at him. "Finding your destiny is one thing, but choosing to shut people out is another. How do you know that meeting people and just enjoying life isn't your destiny? How do you know that none of us play a key factor in your destiny? You don't." Shadow groaned.

"Don't do this to me," He said. "I'm not proud of the choices I've made, but as far as I'm concerned, those choices made me who I am. And if that means I walk alone because of it, well then I'm okay with that. I'll still be around to help out, but once that's over and done with, I will continue to walk down my own path, and I don't need anyone to follow behind me." Espio sighed.

"Alright then," He said. "But if it means anything to you, I just want to tell you that you aren't alone. You have me." Shadow looked at him through the reflection of the glass. He didn't say anything, but he kept Espio's words in mind.

From then on, the flight remained quiet. Although nothing was said, there were a lot of thoughts running through both of their minds, but neither decided to say anything else.

Meanwhile, Sonic and Amy were sitting at a table with an umbrella over them as they finally managed to reach the town. Judging on the design of their flag, Sonic automatically knew they were in Shamar.

Sonic, of course, had two chili dogs on his plate, and nearly ate one in two bites. Amy was eating a sandwich that consisted of lettuce, tomato, cheese, and mayonnaise. Sonic looked down as he tried to figure out a way to make conversation with her. He figured maybe he would attempt to get her to remember a few things.

"So..." He began. He rested his elbows on the table. "Doesn't that sandwich remind you of anything?" Amy raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" She asked. Sonic smirked.

"Aww come on," He said. "You used to love making me food to eat, one of them being sandwiches. Whenever I didn't go out to eat on my own, you always prepared me meals. You hated it when you found out I never ate." Amy shook her head. She had no clue what he was talking about.

"No? Don't remember?" He asked. "Okay then...what about..." He watched as two boys walked by eating ice cream. "Hey! You remember ice cream right? It's your favorite dessert in the world. Do you want to get some?" Amy drank some water and shook her head.

"No thank you," She said. "I'm full." Sonic chuckled.

"Oh come on," He said. "There's always room for ice cream. You never turn down ice cream." Amy could only stare at the blue hedgehog with confusion. Sonic sighed.

"Okay then...well..." He looked at the blue flicky. He was pecking at the bread crumbs that were on the ground. "Doesn't the bird remind you of the one you saved when you were wandering around Station Square? You kept telling me you wanted me to be his body guard because you didn't want him to get hurt." He looked up.

"And then one of Eggman's robots appeared, but you ran into Twinkle Park before I could destroy it." He laughed. "You always ran off and got into some kind of trouble. Luckily for you, I was always there to save you before you could get hurt."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Amy told him. "I don't remember any of this." Sonic frowned.

"Come on," He said. "What about the time you set me free when I was put in jail for Shadow's crimes? Or the time you didn't recognize me when I became a werehog? Or the time you lied about having a boyfriend named Dexter to make me jealous?" Amy shook her head.

"Oh come on, give me something," He told her. Amy's silence only forced him to give up on trying for now. There was no way he could get her to remember anything on his own. He could only hope she would remember things on the way back home. He sighed and got up from the table.

"Alright," He said. He looked at the flicky. "Where do we go next?" The flicky flew into the air and led the way for them through the city. Sonic looked over at Amy and began to think to himself.

_"I'm starting to worry. Nothing of what I say rings a bell for her. I want to believe that her memory will come back on its own, but then I have to wonder how long that's gonna take. She doesn't remember anything I bring up, and worst of all, I probably look like an idiot to her just mentioning it all at once."_ He sighed. _"Well if I can't get her to remember anything from the past, I suppose I can help her make memories right here."_

"So Amy," He said. "Is there anything you want to do while we're making the trip home? I mean, it's a long way there, and we can make a few stops here and there if you want to do something." Amy thought for a moment.

"Well...what can we do?" She asked. Sonic scratched his head.

"Well," He looked around. "You like shopping. Want to take a look around at some of the markets while we're here?"

"I guess so..." She said. That brought a smile to Sonic's face. It wasn't much, but he was at least making progress.

They stopped in the center of the town as they looked around at some of the markets and shops there. So far, they only saw pottery dishes and vases, but they stopped at a table that had handmade jewelry. Sonic looked at Amy.

"See anything you like?" He asked her. "There are a lot of necklaces, rings, bracelets..." Sonic stopped when he saw a bracelet made with white shells. The bracelet reminded him of the one Amy once made him back home. "Hey Amy, come look at this one." Amy walked over.

"What is it?" She asked. Sonic smiled as he picked up the bracelet.

"Doesn't this look familiar?" He asked her. Amy studied the bracelet for a few seconds. Sonic hoped with the long silence that she would remember making a pink one for him similar to the one they found.

"Do you like it?" He asked.

"It's nice," She told him. Sonic looked down.

"The bracelet is supposed to be a good luck charm," He told her. "It's to keep you safe in the water. Do you remember it?" Amy shook her head. Sonic then sighed and put it down.

"Alright," he said disappointed. "Let's keep looking around then." They continued to look around the shops, but eventually they continued on their path to get home. Sonic never felt so defeated in his life. No matter what he did, poor Amy just didn't have a clue.

The walk was long, and the temperature only got higher as the day continued on. Sonic couldn't stand having to walk. If he knew where he was going, he would have ran there instead, but unfortunately, Shamar was nothing like Station Square. It's a whole other town.

Sonic looked up at the blue flicky. He could tell that the poor thing was getting tired of flying. He then looked over at Amy, whom looked exhausted from walking so far. He then sighed and stopped.

"Alright guys," He said. "I can tell you guys are tired. Let's take a break." Amy didn't hesitate to sit down on the sand, and the flicky didn't think twice about falling on its back from exhaustion.

"We can't stay here too long," Sonic told them before looking up at the sky. The sun had moved, and it wouldn't be long until sunset. "We're in the middle of the desert. If we don't make it to the airport tonight, we're going to have to find a place to sleep." He looked at the ground. "And I don't know about you, but I don't prefer sleeping on sand again."

"How much further?" Amy asked. "It's so hot, and I'm getting pretty tired." Sonic looked at the flicky.

"Yeah," He said. "How far exactly is the airport? We've been walking for hours now. It can't be _that_ far." The flicky peeped and drew a number eight in the air.

"Eight miles?" He asked. Amy whined and laid back. Sonic looked at her.

"Amy that's nothing," He told her. "I run that in two minutes." He looked at the flicky. "Here you had me thinking this place was far. What are we just sitting here for? Just tell me where to go and I'll get us there no problem!" Sonic was about to run, but on his first step, he fell flat on his face.

"Ah!" He yelled in pain. He held his ankle and rubbed it. "Ow...aww no I think I twisted my ankle."

"Are you alright?" Amy asked as she crawled over to him. Sonic nodded, but judging by his facial expression and the way he inhaled air through his teeth, he was clearly in pain.

"Guess I spoke too soon," He said. He looked at his ankle and he can already see it starting to swell. "How am I going to make it like this for another eight miles?"

"We're not walking with you like this that's for sure," Amy told him. "It isn't broken or anything right? Can you move it?" Sonic nodded.

"Yeah I can move it," He continued to rub it. "It just hurts too." He looked at the flicky. "You by any chance wouldn't know a source of transportation TO the airport would ya?" The flicky thought for a moment and peeped.

_"We can take the train, but we would have to walk another two miles to reach the tracks. Also, the train won't arrive until later tonight."_

"Aww no," Sonic looked down. "That's not going to be for a while now." Amy helped him up to his feet and put his arm around her for support. "But I guess we should get there as early as we can so we don't miss it. Come on guys." The flicky led the way with the two hedgehogs following close behind.

Sonic looked over at Amy. He couldn't remember the last time he ever had an arm around her, aside from Lady Nimue, but Nimue wasn't the real Amy. THIS was the real Amy.

_"I feel kinda bad that I'm slowing everyone down,"_ He thought to himself. _"I don't know what's wrong with me. I don't even feel like I used to, but then again..."_ He smiled._"It feels almost...right. I mean, you can't run away from things forever. And right now, I'm starting to notice all the good I had that I kept running past this whole time._

_Some people would see me as a guy that enjoys his freedom. Well, I do enjoy my freedom. But out of my own free will, here and now, I think it's time I slowed it down a bit. There's a lot more for me to see and enjoy in the world, but I think I'm going to take it easy and enjoy what I already have."_

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><p>Thanks for reading! Sorry it kinda sucked. It's hard to keep up when you have so many other things you have to do. I promise it'll get better. Just keep an eye out for the next chapter. Shadow and Espio will meet a new face, and we will resume with Mighty and the gang in Spagonia. <strong>Reviews Appreciated!<strong>


	34. Chapter 34

Again, sorry if it sucks. I'm trying to lead up to the key points. :(

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><p>Location: Spagonia<p>

Time: 2014

Rouge, Future Rouge, Fang, Bark, Bean, Ray and Mighty were gathered around the table as they reviewed their next case. Mighty was going through a presentation of the information they had through a PowerPoint being projected on the screen.

"Let's go over this," Mighty began. "What we are dealing with here is certainly not something that is to be underestimated. We have had countless terrorist attacks in parts of this country as well as many others. This person, or possibly something being controlled by someone else has a habit of attacking when least expected. From what these records show, these attacks occur during the day.

Missiles seem to be the preferred weapon of this terrorist. We have no records or evidence of bombs, guns, or other types of weaponry associated with the attacks." Mighty clicked through some pictures of the incidents that occurred.

"Whoever or whatever this is, they are pretty quick in escape. We have had investigators look over the crime scenes, but there is no evidence that suggests that these attacks are being fired from other countries. The suspect has already been proven to be near the crime scene at each time, but unfortunately we have not been able to catch him."

"What exactly is this terrorist after?" Fang asked with his arms crossed. "Is there a pattern to where these attacks take place?"

"As far as the records show, these attacks just occur in random locations at random times during the day. There is no pattern of the terrorist aiming for banks or government agencies. From what we have here, this guy seems to attack on the first thing he sees." Mighty looked through the case file.

"The suspect does not seem to be after anything but just destruction itself."

"So the culprit is already proven to be near the crime scene at all times..." Future Rouge began. "So these attacks aren't being sent out from other locations. But what strikes me is how he manages to get away so quickly."

"That kinda reminds me of Eggman," Rouge added. "But that fatty would never flee, and he certainly wouldn't cause chaos if he wasn't after something. Not only that, but even if he would flee, it would be so easy to spot him making his escape."

"We have already set up cameras around the town should anything strange pop up in our radar," Ray said as he made his way to his computer. "We haven't received any activity yet, but if something comes up, we should be able to track it, and the cameras will surely capture the image of what we're looking for."

"Rouge, I assume you and Eggman have had many encounters," Mighty said. "Was there anything he may have done or even created that could make him the reason behind these attacks? Maybe a robot of some sort? Or maybe even a weapon?"

"One robot I know he's made that could possibly cause destruction like this AND flee so quickly is Metal Sonic, but from what I remember Metal Sonic was destroyed years ago."

"Metal Sonic?" Ray asked. He then looked at Mighty. Mighty stood quiet for a while as he tried to connect the pieces together.

"Where was the last time Metal Sonic was last seen?" He asked.

"Eggman's old base. I believe its Base 0103."

"Where is that? I assume that's west from where you came from, but I want a precise location."

"It's just further out near the Mystic Cave Zone. It looks like an old abandoned junk yard." Mighty kept his silence as he thought more into the information Rouge provided.

"Ray get the jet ready and set a course to Mystic Cave Zone immediately," He ordered. "We're going on a field trip." He looked at the others. "Pack up your things and suit up. Once we board the plane we will go over a plan for when we approach the base. I'll provide you with your gadgets and weapons once we're all together. Are we good on that?"

Everyone nodded and parted as they got ready to leave. Mighty walked over to Ray and whispered into his ear.

"Give me the bracelets just in case Bean, Bark, and Fang try anything funny." Ray took a pair of keys and kneeled down to the floor to unlock a drawer in his desk. When he pulled the drawer open, he took out three silver bracelets and handed them to Mighty.

"I'm surprised you trusted them on such a sensitive case as this," Ray told him. "Why'd you do it?"

"I believe in second chances," He told him as he took the bracelets in hand. "After all where would I be if I never got my second chance? But just in case I let my heart get the better of me on this one..." He held up the bracelets. "Better keep these with me at all times." Ray smiled.

"Well, I can't say I agree with you on trusting three of the most wanted crooks in the world, but I know your heart was in the right place."

"Yeah unfortunately," Mighty said. He then sighed. "I hope I didn't just make a big mistake."

"Well we'll see what happens. No worries man. If anything happens, we'll get them." Ray gave a reassuring smile to his best friend. Mighty shot him a smile back and made his exit out of the room.

* * *

><p>Location: Shamar<p>

Time: 2014

It was finally dark out, and Sonic, Amy, and the flicky had stopped at a beautiful field where the train tracks were located. Sonic had already made up the camp fire, but he wondered where Amy had gone off too. He decided that he would stand up and look for her.

Eventually, he found her standing by the lake. She was looking down at her reflection. Her reflection then showed Sonic standing behind her, to which she quickly reacted and turned around.

"Hey," Sonic said to her. "What were you doing?" Amy giggled. His appearance was unexpected and startled her for a moment.

"I'm not doing much," She told him. "Why are you on your feet? Your ankle is swollen. You shouldn't be walking around." Sonic smiled. This was the perfect opportunity to flirt and make her fall in love with him again.

"So you _do_ care about me," He said as he sat down on the grass. He pat his hand on the ground for her to sit next to him. "Sit with me." Amy then sat next to him. Sonic could feel himself blushing, but he was able to play it cool.

"What do you plan on doing when we get back?" He asked. "Maybe we can do something together. Maybe even go to Twinkle Park like you've always wanted." Amy looked at him.

"Haven't we been stuck together a little too long?" She asked. "I don't even know you." Sonic smiled and laid his head on her lap.

"All the more reason for us to go," He said. He was grinning at her, and although it would be so easy for any girl to get lost in his eyes, Amy resisted.

"I think you're getting the wrong idea," She told him. Sonic sat back up.

"Geez Amy I don't know what more I can do here," He said. "There's gotta be something I can do to make you remember me. I already tried mentioning some of the good times we had, and then there was the bracelet at the market, and I just practically asked you out on a date." Amy stood up.

"I think we're done here," She said. "You need to get some rest. Ever since you fell you've been acting really strange. I don't know what you're talking about with all this nonsense of me wanting these things when we practically just met." She sighed. "I'm just gonna go back to the campfire. Do you need any help?"

Sonic shook his head as he looked down at his knees. "No...I'm alright...just gonna sit here I guess..." Amy frowned.

"I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings," She said. "I'm just gonna...go now..." She turned around and walked away. Sonic looked back at her.

"No Amy..." He mumbled. "You were already gone."

* * *

><p>Location: Adabat<p>

Time: 2014

"Damn it all!" Shadow yelled as walked around the plane. "How are we supposed to get fuel in the middle of the damn forest?" Espio looked at him.

"We can always just find the nearest station," He suggested. Shadow shook his head.

"Car fuel will probably be too risky," He said. "I completely forgot that this is Eggman's aircraft. He probably has some fuel of his own type. Any other gas might screw up the engine."

"Perhaps we can just find an airport here and buy ourselves a one way ticket to Station Square? I mean I'm just throwing out some ideas."

Shadow looked around. "I don't even know where the hell we are," He said. "We're stranded in the middle of a forest surrounded by sand and water. We're on an island for Chaos sake." He looked at Espio. "And how do you suppose we purchase tickets when we have no money?"

"Well you think of something then," Espio told him. "Is there a glove department in the cockpit?" Espio sat in the front seat and looked around. "Maybe Eggman has something in it that can be useful. He's got to have thought of a plan B if the plane ever failed on him." He found the glove department and looked inside, but unfortunately it was empty. "Nothing." Shadow sighed frustration.

"No chaos emerald, no fuel, no money, and no way to get home," He said angrily. "Could this get any worse?"

"Maybe not," Espio said. "Look over there." He pointed straight ahead to a brown fox with darker brown ears wearing a dark blue vest. "Seems like we're not the only ones stranded here. What a coincidence."

"Let's go see if he's okay." Shadow and Espio walked the distance towards the fox. The fox could hear their footsteps as the two carelessly stepped on sticks, twigs, and dead leaves. The fox held up his wrench.

"Whose there?" He asked as he prepared to fight. Shadow and Espio stepped out.

"Calm down," Espio told him. "No reason to be defensive."

"You okay kid?" Shadow asked him. "What are you doing out here?" The brown fox glared at Shadow.

"I'm thirteen years old," He said. "And I'm just tuning up my plane before I get going again." Espio and Shadow took several glances at the plane. It almost resembled Tails' X Tornado, but it was more advanced with technology and instead of the two orange tails symbol, it was the symbol of a hurricane.

"Where did you get the X Tornado from?" Shadow asked him. The fox nervously looked up.

"This isn't the X Tornado," He said. "This is my H1-Storm. I built most of it myself."

"Most of it?" Shadow raised an eyebrow. "Who else helped you?"

"N-Nobody," He said. He looked away and continued to work on the plane. "Look what do you guys want?"

"Actually we're kind of stranded out here," Espio told him. "We ran out of fuel and we don't have money to get home."

"Where's that at?" The fox asked.

"Station Square," Espio replied. The fox closed the compartment he was working on and looked at the two.

"Well," He said brushing his hands off. "I suppose I can lend you some of my fuel, but I think it would probably make more sense if I just take you guys with me." He smiled. "What a coincidence that I just so happen to have to go there myself."

"You're willing to give us a ride?" Espio asked. The fox nodded. Shadow crossed his arms as he thought about what they were doing.

"I usually don't take rides from strangers," He said. "But since we're all going to the same place, I think I'll let this one slide." He looked at the fox. "But I'm just not sure how I feel about a thirteen year old taking the wheel."

"I'm probably more experienced than you are," The fox told him. "I didn't crash my plane, and I always carry around a couple gallons of fuel with me if I needed it." His response shocked Shadow, to which made Espio snicker.

"What are you laughing at?!" Shadow said looking at Espio. Espio grinned.

"He got you," He said, and then started laughing again. Shadow rolled his eyes as he boarded the aircraft with the fox. Once they were all aboard, the plane levitated and the fox flew it upwards.

Shadow and Espio couldn't help but glance around at some of the controls. They never seen anything with technology more advanced than what they've seen with Tails. Shadow seemed more suspicious than Espio did. The engineering looked too familiar other than the advanced technology part, but what really caught him off guard was as he looked at the fox's rear view mirror, there was an electronic gauge being reflected off it labeled, "Time then" and "Time arrived". The "Time then" was March 26th 2029, and the "Time Arrived" was today's date.

Shadow knew that could only mean one thing, _"He's a traveler..."_

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><p>Thanks for reading and to those that are baring with me. Sorry for taking so long. Understand that I'm trying my best to get back on track. <strong>Reviews appreciated!<strong>


	35. Chapter 35

Make sure you guys keep certain events in mind. They will come up later! :)

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><p>Location: Unknown<p>

Year: 2014

Mighty reviewed the team's approach to Base 0103. Everyone dressed up with bullet proof vests and suits and had weapons packed in their black back packs.

"Based on the information sent to us by the agency," He began. "Metal Sonic is not something to be underestimated, especially if we find out that he's the reason behind these attacks. I ask that you all take precautions should it come to a shoot down." He looked at Rouge and shot her a smile. "Wouldn't want to lose ya on the first day." Rouge's cheeks slightly turned pink, much to her future self's laughter.

"Wow..." Bean said with a grin. "I have so many bombs and weapons in my bag! This reminds me of the good old days!" Mighty cleared his throat and interrupted Bean's thought.

"That reminds me," He grabbed the three silver bracelets and placed them on the wrists of Bean, Bark, and Fang.

"What the hell is this for?" Fang asked. Mighty raised a brow.

"Just in case any of you three try something funny that's all," He moved closer to their faces. "I mean it. I gave you a second shot at life boys." He took out a controller with two buttons on it. "Don't blow it or the next thing that gets blown is you three. Understood?" The three crooks nodded their heads.

"Yes," They all said quietly. Mighty walked over the cockpit to check up on Ray.

"How much further?" He asked.

"A few miles," he answered. "I'll be landing shortly."

"Alright, I'll get everyone ready." Mighty went back and sat down on a white leather chair. "We'll be landing in a few minutes everyone. You guys got your supplies?" Everyone answered with a yes.

"Good. Don't forget to stick to the plan. Take safety precautions and do not abort the mission unless I say so. We all go in together and investigate. We will not be separating under any circumstances." He looked down at a black four hole button on his vest.

"While we're investigating, please take as many pictures as possible with the camera hidden on your button. Anything inside that base could come as a great benefit to us later." He then pointed to an ear piece he wore.

"Just in case we DO get separated, keep this ear piece on at all times. It'll allow us to communicate and there's a tracking chip in there that will help us find you." He looked at the two Rouges.

"Ladies, there is a button on the bottom of your boots that will transition your heels into drills. You can drill a hole and take safety precautions before entering an area that can be dangerous." He picked up his backpack.

"There are other useful supplies in here that can come as a wonderful benefit such as the laser pen, some weapons, rope, night vision glasses, and all that fun stuff. But this should not take us very long that all of this will become of use, but it's better to have supplies and not need them rather need them and not have them. In this agency we must be prepared for anything."

Suddenly the plane started to shake rapidly and Ray began to lose control of the plane. Everyone screamed out of complete fear as the plane fell from the sky.

"Ray!" Mighty shouted. He tried to make his way over to the yellow flying squirrel. "Ray! What's going on?!" Ray struggled to pilot the plane, but none of the controls he tried were working.

"I can't control it!" He yelled. He noticed that the radar was malfunctioning and that a lot of static came on the mic. "I can't call for help Mighty and the plane is failing on us!"

"Is it a mechanical problem in the plane?! Are the engines alright?!" Mighty asked loudly over the noise. Ray shook his head.

"Everything is fine but there seems to be a strong interference of some kind! The radar went ballistic and then everything just started to fail!" That was when suddenly Mighty heard a voice over the static, but instead of wasting time listening, his focus was mainly on the wheel.

"Ray the jet! Pull it upwards we're falling!"

"I can't!"

The two grabbed onto the wheel and pulled it as hard as they could. Everyone screamed with how quickly the jet was falling, but after a few seconds, the plane started working again and Mighty and Ray got it to fly upwards. They were panting with pure fear. Mighty turned back to check on the others.

"Are you guys alright?" He asked. Everyone tried to get to their seats.

"What was that?" Rouge asked as she managed to sit down. Fang groaned when he sat down on his chair.

"Can't your friend learn how to fly a damn jet?!" He yelled.

"Hey!" Mighty told him. "Ray didn't do anything wrong!" Fang crossed his arms.

"If he wasn't responsible then what was it then?" He asked. Mighty looked down before turning to Ray.

"Ray are we able to save these recordings or did the interference remove them?" Ray looked at the radar.

"We should still have them," he said, "But there was nothing but static. What use is it to us other than to send in a complaint to the agency to fix their plane?"

"Something was said over that mic," Mighty told him. "I can't make out what it was, but I know for darn sure I heard a voice."

"Maybe it was someone trying to communicate with us back at Spagonia HQ." Mighty shook his head.

"No," He said. "It couldn't be." He looked back at the radar. There was nothing on it, but Mighty didn't seem too convinced. "You told me you caught something on the radar. What was it Ray?"

"I'm not sure," Ray told him. "It was identified as a large amount of energy, but before I could find out what it was the entire jet malfunctioned." Mighty thought for a moment.

"I want that audio sent back to the lab as soon as we get back. I want all of the surveillance camera footage on this plane, the audio, and I definitely want to know what was on that radar."

"Yes Mighty."

Mighty went back to the others and sat back down on the leather chair. Everyone kept quiet, unsure of what to say after the events that just occurred. Rouge decided to break the silence.

"Do you think maybe it was Metal Sonic?" She asked. Mighty didn't look at her.

"I don't know what it was, but I do know that we will continue with the mission and once we get back, I'm reviewing that audio recording and the footage. I know I heard something on that mic." At this point, everyone kept their silence after their near death experience.

A few minutes later, they arrived at their destination and they all got off the jet and looked around. Everyone was armed. Mighty noticed the base up ahead and pointed towards it.

"That's the base right Rouge?" He asked. Rouge nodded.

"Yup. That's the old base alright. Haven't been here in years. I'm actually quite surprised the building is still intact."

"Well regardless, stay close to me," Mighty smirked as he looked at her. "I don't want to put you in any danger." Rouge rolled her eyes.

"I'm starting to think you're just trying to score a reaction from me," Rouge told him. Mighty grinned.

"Well it must be working since you noticed."

"Guys can we precede with the investigation? You two can worry about dates later," Ray said, interrupting their conversation. Mighty blushed.

"Who said anything about a date?" He asked. Rouge smiled.

"Boy if that was the worst flirting from someone I've ever seen. You need to step up your game a bit honey if you expect to get with someone of my level." Rouge walked away beside her future self as she and the others left Mighty behind. Mighty could only smile, but eventually snapped out of it and caught up with the group.

They all began to take snapshots of their surroundings. Mighty walked beside Ray as they noticed the junk around them looked like robot parts and other dismantled machinery.

"This is Dr. Eggman's old base alright," Ray told him. "Have you ever seen this many robot remains in one place before?" Mighty coughed.

"Have you ever seen so much pollution before?" He asked. "There's no way this can be safe or sanitary." He stopped when he noticed a trail of robot parts going into the entrance. "Alright looks like we gotta get ready." He looked at the others.

"Stay armed and stick to the plan," He told them. "This can be dangerous. Ray and I will lead the way. Do not do anything that could put you in danger." He turned around. "Let's move in."

They all slowly entered the base as they held up their guns to each corner. Bean made sure to take snapshots of the scene and stood behind Bark for safety. Everyone kept their silence as they continued down the halls. They stopped when they heard a buzzing sound from ahead.

"It's coming from that room," Bark whispered as he held up his gun at the entrance. They all walked slowly and quietly to the entrance of the room, and before walking any further inside, they checked all the corners to make sure it was safe. They noticed that the flat screen monitor had been shattered since Sonic's last visit.

"Why does this screen look brand new?" Future Rouge asked.

"Eggman must have been here recently," Bark added. Bean continued to take pictures.

"But if he was here recently, how did the monitor shatter?" He asked. Mighty and Ray looked around.

"If this monitor was just recently made, then Eggman might be here." Mighty held up his gun. "Let's go." He led the team out of the room and continued up the hallway. They heard another buzzing sound as they kept moving, but the buzzing sounded a lot stronger than the one the monitor made in the other room.

"What is that?" Ray asked quietly. Mighty held out his arm to stop everyone from walking.

"That's not some ordinary broken machinery," He said. "That sounds like something is making a charge to fire. Get ready team." Everyone held up their guns as Mighty continued to walk ahead. They found a blue robot connected to two large wires on the wall.

"That's Metal Sonic!" Future Rouge said. That was when Metal Sonic's eyes turned red.

"Shoot it!" Fang yelled, but before he pulled the trigger, Mighty jumped in front of him and held out his arms to stop the others.

"No hold your fire! Hold your fire!" He looked back. "He doesn't look like he's going to attack. Ray, what have you got?"

"He looks damaged, and these wires look like chargers of some sort," Ray continued to observe, but he stopped when he noticed Metal Sonic's eyes following his every move.

"I don't get it," Rouge said. "He was destroyed. How could he be put back together again? After all that's occurred, I doubt Eggman would make the effort to fix him up." Mighty lowered his gun and walked up to Metal Sonic.

"Ray look at this."

"What is it?" They noticed a series of code scrolling left and right in Metal Sonic's eyes. "There's something wrong with his programming. It's like his whole system is malfunctioning."

"Is that why he won't attack?" Mighty asked.

"Probably, or maybe he's too weak to attack and that's why he's trying to charge himself up? I'm not sure."

_"Intruders detected. Preparing to attack."_ Everyone backed away and hid for cover as they prepared to shoot.

_"Failure to lock on targets. Charging required. Self-defense system shut down."_

"He can't attack us," Fang said.

"He sees us but he's too weak to do anything," Bean added. Mighty thought for a moment before turning to Ray.

"We gotta take him back to the lab with us and find out what's going on," He said. "Maybe we can fix him up and find out what happened to him."

"Seems awfully dangerous," Ray told him. "What happens if he attacks after we fix him?"

"We disable his weapon use that's all," Mighty said. "But we can't leave him here." He took out a pair of latex gloves from his back pack and put them on. "If there's any DNA on him we don't want to contaminate it." He motioned Bark to come over. "Bark, you should have a pair of gloves in your backpack. Put them on and help me get Metal Sonic down and into the plane. Ray, get the jet ready."

"Gotcha." The yellow flying squirrel dashed out of the room. Mighty and Bark carefully unplugged Metal Sonic and held him by his arms.

"Ladies, arm our blindsides. Bean and Fang, stand guard in front of us. Just in case something else happens to be here, we don't want to be open for them and unarmed," Mighty told them.

The four did as they were told and carefully made their way back to the entrance. They passed the room with the broken monitor, to which stood out to Future Rouge as something suspicious.

"I still don't understand something," She said.

"What?" Mighty asked.

"If Metal Sonic is here and that monitor was just recently built, then where is Eggman? Wouldn't he be here too?"

"Well if he was," Rouge began, "He would have probably launched an attack on us by now."

"We will figure all of this out once we get Metal Sonic back to the lab," Mighty told them. "I'll have Spagonia HQ send out agents to this location for further investigation. Right now my main concern is Metal Sonic." They boarded the jet and prepared to take off. Mighty and Bark secured Metal Sonic with chains and special handcuffs in case he attempted to make an attack.

"I'd say this has been one of the easiest missions by far," Mighty said with a smile. "But of course when you can get what you're searching for this easily, chances are once further investigation is executed, it'll turn to hell real quick."

"I took a lot of pictures as we were going through Mighty," Bean said happily. Mighty chuckled.

"Excellent work duckling," He said. "We'll make sure to look those over after we fix Metal Sonic up." He glanced at Fang and frowned. "For the record Mr. Sniper, if we are all in a group and spot something that appears unusual, you do not go around giving orders to fire. You are under MY orders as long as we are together. You do not fire unless you are under attack. Do you understand me?" Fang groaned.

"He looked like he was about to attack," He said to his defense. Mighty raised a brow.

"Just because he heard us did not mean he was going to attack," Mighty told him. "And turns out he couldn't attack anyway; therefore, there was no reason to shoot. You do not give orders let alone fire when you do not need too. You could have put our fellow agents in danger."

"Then throw me in jail," Fang argued. "You told us to take precautions and I did."

"You gave orders when you are not in charge and almost put our lives in danger. See that it does not happen again and that's the end of this conversation." Fang rolled his eyes. Mighty looked at Bean and Bark. "Is there anything that you two have to say?" They shook their heads.

"Alright then," Mighty said. He then took a deep breath and sighed. "We will discuss further actions once we get back to the lab. Everyone just relax and we'll work all of this out." With that being said, everyone remained silent for the rest of the ride. During the silence, Metal Sonic looked around at everyone, and at the point, his eyes began to show a lot more code than it did before, and he managed to activate a built in camera and recorded the others unnoticed.

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><p>Can anyone guess what might be going on with Metal Sonic? Now THAT is one secret I will surely keep hidden for now, but there could be a lot causing him to act up. I wanna know YOUR thoughts.<strong>Reviews appreciated!<strong>


	36. Chapter 36

Thanks to all that are still reading. We're getting close to the end so stay put. :3

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><p>Location: Station Square<p>

Year: 2014

"Here's the stop gentlemen," The brown fox said as he landed his plane. "Station Square." The two got off the plane and looked around. It was starting to get dark.

"Thanks for the ride," Espio told him. "Sure beats hanging around that forest." He looked at Shadow, whom by the look on his face was in deep thought. "Shadow? Shadow you okay?"

"Hm? Yeah, yeah," He said. "I'm fine." He crossed his arms and hesitated for a moment. "Say um...why don't you get going for the night? I might be here for a while."

"Why?" Espio asked him. Shadow closed his eyes.

"I just have some things I need to do first." He then looked at him. "I'll catch up with you in a bit, and if not, tomorrow." Espio didn't seem too convinced, but he didn't bother to argue back.

"Alright then," He finally said. "I'll be at the Chaotix Agency if you need me. Goodbye Shadow. Bye...um...who are you again?"

"Don't worry about it," The brown fox said. "You have a good night."

"Thanks. You too." The chameleon then ran off, leaving Shadow and the brown fox alone. Shadow looked at him.

"Who are you?" He asked. The fox glared.

"I said don't worry about it," He snapped. Shadow moved closer to his face to look him straight in the eyes.

"I KNOW you are from the future," He began. "You're already caught kid. Who are you and what are you doing here?" The fox sighed.

"My name is Hurricane," He said, before looking around and said quietly, "Please don't blow my cover. Nobody is supposed to know who I am or where I come from. It can really alter the future."

"Believe me kid," Shadow said with sigh. "You are not the first traveler I've dealt with today." He looked up at him. "Besides, if there's anyone better to find out about a traveler, it would be me."

"Hmm...I suppose," Hurricane replied. He put his hands on the wheel. "Is that all you want to know?"

"Well you still didn't answer my other question," Shadow said. "What are you doing here?" Hurricane sighed and looked away.

"It's rather silly to say," He started to blush, but Shadow ignored his discomfort on the subject and wanted to hear what he had to say.

"Go on. Say it."

"Well," He looked at him. "I'm here to play matchmaker." Shadow raised a brow.

"E-Excuse me?" He took a step back. "Matchmaker for whom? And why?"

"Well since you're already familiar with time travel and what not, I guess it would be best to tell you that there's been a time distortion that messed up my parents chances of ever meeting." He sighed. "Once you change the past, you change the future. I mean, I know Silver, Blaze, and Chase meant well because of the events that occurred, but now that their portion of the future had been restored, mine was then messed up."

"You know them?" Shadow asked. Hurricane nodded.

"We all work together as a team in the future," He said. "Their mistake of travelling too far back caused my parents to never meet. From what I can remember, Blaze still existed in her dimension, but a major catastrophe occurred to the point she used the sol emeralds to escape along with Marine and the rest of her citizens to be reborn into this world.

We no longer look for the chaos emeralds in the future anymore because the chaos emeralds reside in a safe place from where they originally came from, but our job is to search for the Sol Emeralds and protect them, just like Blaze once had to do in her world. Since that event occurred, Blaze and Marine never met, meaning Tails never met Marine either."

"I see," Shadow said. "So how do you plan to make Tails and Marine meet?"

"Well I was thinking of making a fake flyer for a competition to fly around the world in a day, because I know that's something Tails had always wanted to do. Then again, I thought it would be best if I made a distress phone call to him from 'Sonic,' and tell him to pick me up in Adabat."

"So let me get this straight," Shadow began. "You're going to pretend to be Sonic on the phone and have Tails meet you in Adabat. Have you already developed some sort of device to match Sonic's voice, because you sound nothing him."

"Look," Hurricane began. "I have this all thought out. By changing the voice input on my communicator, I will sound like Sonic on the other end. Knowing my dad, he's pretty careful, so odds are he's going to try tracking Sonic to pinpoint his exact location on a radar. With my intelligence in machinery and hacking, I'll counter his ability to track my call so that the radar marks the communicator from 'Sonic's' location." Shadow glared at him.

"Honestly, there's gotta be something else you can do. You can't just assume this is going to work out." Hurricane rolled his eyes.

"Well do you have any better ideas? I'm a mechanic, not a love expert."

"Do I look like a love expert to you?" Shadow then let out a sigh. "Just please be careful. And for Chaos sake, whoever else you're working with; please tell them to STAY in the year they belong before you guys actually screw up the timeline. Time travel should only be done when necessary. It's a serious risk."

"Yeah yeah, I've heard this lecture before." Hurricane started the plane. "I've gotta get going if I want everything to go just as I planned. Just don't tell anyone about me or anything alright?"

"I won't," Shadow reassured. "Good luck with the whole matchmaker thing." Hurricane pulled the glass cover over him.

"Yeah I'm gonna need it." He then drove off and flew into the air. Shadow watched him from a distance until he disappeared from the sky. He ran off when Hurricane was no longer in sight.

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><p>Location: Shamar<p>

Year: 2014

The hours had gone by slowly and the night had gotten cooler. Sonic, Amy, and the light blue flicky surrounded the camp fire for warmth. They were all falling asleep slowly.

Sonic fought to keep his eyes open as he was only seconds away from complete slumber. That was, until he heard the loud sound of the horn from the train rushing in the distance. He immediately jumped and looked around, and he didn't hesitate to shake Amy awake.

"Amy! The train is here! We gotta hurry up!" He forced himself to his feet. "Come on! We gotta get in one of those open box carts before we miss them!" He then looked at the blue flicky. "Doesn't this train stop at all?"

_"It usually stops at the station not far from here. It should be slowing down at any time now."_

"Amy..." Sonic kneeled to help the waking pink hedgehog to her feet. "Sorry to wake you, but it's time for us to go home. We gotta hurry."

"Okay okay, I'm coming," She rubbed her eyes and watched as the train slowly came to a stop. Amy clung to Sonic's arm to help him walk to one of the carts. They hurried as much as they could to an open red cart. The flicky flew inside and threw himself in a pile of hay. Sonic smiled as he lifted Amy by her waist into the cart.

"We're finally going home Amy," He told her. "I'm sorry the ride there is smelly and uncomfortable though. I promise you this isn't usually how things work out."

"How do we usually go home then?" She asked. Sonic could only smile. While her amnesia may have been annoying, he found her cluelessness to be cute.

"Well when it comes to saving the day, it's either me carrying you home or flying in Tails' tornado. Either way, the ride is always a fun one." He took her hands and looked straight into her eyes.

"I know you might not remember me or anything we've been through together, but Amy, there's something I want you to know, and I'm so sorry this had to occur for me to say it." He could feel his cheeks getting warmer.

"Amy...I-"

The train started moving and broke the two's grasp from each other. Amy reached out in fear as the train drove off and accelerated.

"Sonic!" She yelled.

"Amy!" Sonic tried to run as fast he could with his twisted ankle. He was in a lot of pain, but forced himself to ignore it as he tried to catch up to the cart she was in. "Amy! I'm coming!" He tried to avoid as many obstacles as he could, and as if running with a hurt ankle wasn't painful enough, having to make turns and jump made it worse. Luckily for him, he caught up to the cart.

"Jump Sonic!" Amy told him. Sonic made a leap onto the cart, but he only made it halfway. Amy tried pulling him up.

"Ah! My ankle! I can't push myself up!" Sonic tried pulling himself onto the cart with Amy's help. "Be careful Amy!"

"Don't worry, I got you..." After a final pull, Amy managed to pull Sonic onto the cart. They both panted and looked at each other.

"Thanks Amy," Sonic said to her with a smile. He sat down and looked at his ankle. Amy kneeled as she examined it.

"You didn't bruise it some more did you?" She asked. Sonic tightly closed his eyes from the pain when she touched it.

"No...Just put too much pressure on it that's all..." He sucked his teeth. "Don't touch it. It hurts too much." He looked at her and frowned at the fear and concerned look on her face. "Hey...what's wrong?"

"I just feel like going home is way too much trouble for you to be going through," Amy said sadly. "You're hurt. I mean...do we even have to go home, wherever home might even be?"

"Uh..." Sonic thought for a moment. At this point, he didn't care whether he was home or not. "I mean...I want to take you home. You'll be safe there...and I know you'll be happy. Right now, that's my goal at this point." Amy gave a short smile.

"Thank you for doing this for me," she said. "That's really nice of you to do for some stranger like myself. I only wish I could return the favor to you somehow." Sonic scratched his head and smiled at her.

"Believe me Amy," He said quietly. "Being with you is all I could ask for." His loving gaze at her stopped when he noticed she pulled herself to sit beside him. He was wondering if she had been slowly regaining her memory.

"I know exactly what I'm gonna do for you," she said. Sonic raised a brow and smiled.

"Agree on that date?" He chuckled. Amy looked at him confused.

"What? No. Why would I do that?" She asked. Sonic let out a sigh and put on a dead face.

"It was worth a shot," He said crossing his arms.

"Well, I was going to say that since you've been looking after me and went through all this trouble to get me home, it's only fair that I stay up and look after you, and I will do that starting right now." Sonic glared at her.

"Really?"

"That's right."

About a half hour had passed, and Amy was now passed out on Sonic's lap. He put his hand on her head and smiled as he watched her sleep peacefully.

"So much for looking after me," He said. "But I guess every girl needs her beauty sleep." He watched her as she quietly snored and couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"Aw Amy, you always try and look out for me. I just wish it never led to your harm as much as it does. I love your passion and concern over me, but I much rather prefer to be your hero instead." He rubbed her quills a little bit.

"'I'll always be there for you at your best and worst times. You can be my sweetest honey for all eternity.'" He looked up at the night sky.

"Eternity huh?" He smiled. "Sounds like a never ending adventure...which is my kind of adventure." He looked back at Amy.

"I'll do whatever it takes to get you to remember Amy. It's my fault you got into this mess, and I'm going to be the one to fix it. If I can't, I'll die trying. Even if you will never regain your memory, I'll make sure you're happy. I promise." He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall as he slowly fell asleep.

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><p><strong>Reviews appreciated! <strong>


	37. Chapter 37

Thanks for the reviews!

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><p>Location: Spagonia<p>

Year: 2014

"Mighty, there's something I need to show you," Ray said as he led the red armadillo into a room. Metal Sonic had been dismantled all over the table.

"What's wrong?" Mighty asked. He looked at the dismantled parts. "Whoa, what happened here?" Ray pointed to the head of Metal Sonic.

"I've taken him apart and searched for his power source." He held up a battery. "I swore this was it, but look. He's still on." He pointed at Metal Sonic's eyes. There was still code scrolling left to right in them.

"Well if that was the battery then he couldn't possibly still be on," Mighty told him. Ray shook his head.

"No no, you don't get it. Check this out." Ray opened up Metal Sonic's body, to which to Mighty's surprise, had an electric reaction occurring between the circuits. The wires were also damaged with slight burns and rips.

"How is that possible without the battery?" Mighty asked. "Are you sure that's the battery?" Ray nodded.

"This is the battery alright. But I am at a loss of words for how he is being powered. I cannot explain why the circuits are active without a power source. Even more, I don't understand how those wires are still stable." Ray placed the battery back inside and screwed up the compartment. "There were some pieces of glass inside of him. I think I managed to get most of it out though."

"Has he said anything since you've taken him apart?" Mighty asked. Ray shook his head.

"Not a single word." He took down some notes. "Have you reviewed the audio from the plane?"

"I was in the middle of it before you got me," Mighty told him. "I'm having the boys organize the footage from the base as well. There might be something on camera we might have missed."

"Well if it makes you feel any better," Ray pulled up the crime scenes pictures on the computer and held up Metal Sonic's dismantled arm. "We got a match for the attacks."

"So it is Metal Sonic," Mighty said glaring at the robot.

"But I don't think this is his own doing," Ray explained. "From what I've gathered up he seems to be controlled by something else. I just haven't gotten that far to explain whom or what it could be though."

"Maybe that's where those electric reactions are coming from." He looked at Ray's notes. "Have you managed to gather any data in his memory?"

"I've received some footage, but a majority of it cut off for some reason. From what I can see, after a final battle with Sonic, he had been deactivated for a few years. His camera then somehow got reactivated, and by the looks of it, he was in the middle of the jungle. Then the rest of it turns to static and for a few brief seconds you have some of the crime scenes he caused. Then it goes to us at the base and that's it."

"And there was no one in the jungle that could have possibly reactivated him?" Mighty asked. Ray shook his head.

"There is nobody caught on camera."

"No audio?"

"Nope."

Mighty covered his face and let out a deep sigh. "This is a mess." He rubbed the back of his neck. "This seems to be more frustrating than it should be. I mean we got the evidence that it was Metal Sonic causing the terrorist attacks, but we have no idea whom activated him or how he's even able to stay powered on without a battery or plug inside of him. He's practically powered with black magic."

"I'll see what else I can find out, but let HQ know that we somewhat solved this case."

"Somewhat? There's no such thing. You either solve a case or you don't." He banged his fist on the table. "This cannot be happening. If we don't figure out where his source of control is from soon then there's no doubt these attacks are going to happen again. Lives are at stake here." Mighty sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Okay, I'm going to leave you to find out anything else you can. I'm going to review the audio from the plane and see if maybe I caught anything that can help us."

"Don't stress about this too much Mighty," Ray told him. "We both knew what we were going to face with these jobs. We're the best of the best. Don't let one mystery case take that away from you. We're going to solve this one way or another. We always do." Mighty looked at him and frowned.

"I just don't want any more lives put in danger. I'm determined to solve this as soon as possible."

"And we will." Ray put his hand on his best friend's back. "I promise." Mighty smiled.

"Alright buddy," He said. "You do whatever you need to do, and I'll finish reviewing the audio and footage on the plane. You find anything; you let me know right away."

"Aye aye."

Mighty pat Ray's back and made his way out of the room. When he got back to the main room, he stopped when he noticed both Rouges waiting by the elevator.

"Where are you ladies off too?" He asked. Rouge quickly got in front of Future Rouge.

"We're just going back outside for a breather. I'll be right back," She said. Mighty smirked at her.

"Okay but don't be too long," He said, before winking at her. "I'll be kinda lonely." Rouge rolled her eyes. His flirting attempts got worse by the minute. Once the elevator arrived, both bats went inside and made their way out of the building. Rouge led Future Rouge into an alleyway.

"What's wrong?" She asked. Future Rouge was starting to fade away.

"Well...I guess my job is done now," She told her. "You're back on track to a good life, meaning the future where I come from no longer exists."

"But I thought you were going to show me two possibilities that would benefit me in the future. This was one. What was the other?" Future Rouge smiled.

"Eh...you have a talent for being a designer," She said. "Either way, I know I've done what I was supposed to do, and I know things are going to work out from this point forward. That is," She pointed at Rouge, "if you stop stealing things."

"Don't worry," Rouge told her with a smile. "That's all behind me." She hugged her future self. "This may be weird, but I'm gonna miss you. You really helped me out a lot."

"Well it's not like you'll never see me again," Future Rouge told her. "Just look in the mirror. I am YOU after all." They both giggled. Future Rouge was less than five seconds away from vanishing.

"Goodbye Rouge," Rouge said waving to her Future self. Future Rouge waved back.

"I wish you the best!" She then disappeared into thin air, leaving Rouge all by herself. She took a few moments of silence as she thought about her past, the present, and her future.

"Wow," a voice startled her and she quickly turned around. "You weren't kidding when you said she was from the future."

"Mighty," Rouge put her hands on her hips. "Have you been spying on me this entire time? Don't you know that's rude?" Mighty walked over to her.

"Hey I got a little worried," He told her. "I wanted to double check on you and make sure you were okay." Rouge sighed.

"I'm fine," She looked up at him. "Do you have any assignments for me?" Mighty smiled.

"Well, that all depends," He led her back inside. "Work-wise I think we have everything covered, but..." They went inside the elevator. "Otherwise, I think I'm gonna go with what Ray said earlier and bring up a possible date." Rouge crossed her arms.

"You're pretty terrible at this ya know that?" She asked him. Mighty chuckled.

"I'm trying as hard as I can here!" He said with a grin. "Come on, at least give me some credit on all the effort!" Rouge thought about it for a moment.

"Hmm..." She then smiled. "Alright. I'll take you up on that date. Maybe you're game will be better." They walked inside the main room.

"Mighty, there's something we need to show you," Bean said interrupting the two. He led the way back to Fang and Bark who were on one of the computers.

"What's up boys?" He asked.

"We seemed to have overlooked some odd trail back at the base," Fang told him. He clicked on some of the pictures and zoomed in.

"What is that?" Rouge asked.

"It looks like shattered shards of glass or something," Bark said. "They're all leading right to Metal Sonic."

"Hmm...They might be traces from his crime attempts," Mighty added. "Ray's got the evidence that confirms Metal Sonic to be behind the terrorist attacks."

"It might be," Fang looked at Mighty. "Will we be returning to the base anytime soon?"

"I've already called HQ to send agents over there as soon as possible," Mighty crossed his arms. "There had to be someone there with Metal Sonic."

"Did you get anything from the plane?" Bean asked.

Mighty walked over to his computer. "Nothing yet. I'm still reviewing the audio." He put on his headphones and resumed where he left off.

"Did you guys find anything else out of the ordinary?" Rouge asked. The three shook their heads.

"Nothing yet," Fang told her. "There's nothing but piles of junk. It's hard to tell the difference between what's useful and what's completely useless."

"Maybe we should just wait until those other agents investigated the base and see if they can find anything," Bean suggested. "Otherwise we can't really pick apart anything suspicious."

"Those shards though," Fang rubbed his chin. "I honestly believe we would have remembered seeing them when we were there."

"They look like pieces of a broken mirror," Rouge pointed out. "But it's probably nothing. Like Mighty said, they might just be pieces from one of the crime scenes."

"Guys..." Mighty took off his headphones. "You guys might wanna listen to this."

"What is it?" Bean asked. Mighty unplugged the headphones and turned up the volume on the computer. He replayed the audio recording.

**"**Mighty: Ray! Ray! What's going on?!

Ray: I can't control it! I can't call for help Mighty and the plane is failing on us!

Mighty: Is it a mechanical problem in the plane?! Are the engines alright?!

Ray: Everything is fine but there seems to be a strong interference of some kind! The radar went ballistic and then everything just started to fail!

_?: My shards will be the death of this damn world._**"**

"That's disturbing..." Rouge said. Mighty looked at the boys.

"So you were right," He told them. "Those shards are some kind of clue." He checked for messages on the computer. "According to HQ, they recovered the radar data from the plane for us." He clicked on the tracker file. "And there it is. That's the energy Ray caught; right around the time of the recording."

"So Metal Sonic, glass shards, and an unknown source of energy," Rouge thought for a moment. "Hmm…I can't put any of those things together."

"Ray found some glass in Metal Sonic as well. He's gotta fix up Metal Sonic and see if he has any useful information for us," Mighty stood up. "He should. He is responsible for the attacks after all." He looked at the boys. "Save those files and have them printed out for me. I still need to look at the surveillance footage of the plane. Hopefully this mystery terrorist was captured on video."

Everyone resumed where they left off on their work, but that cold whispering voice continued to run through Mighty's mind. _"My shards will be the death of this damn world."_

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><p><strong>Reviews Appreciated! <strong>


	38. Chapter 38

Thanks guys for the views and reviews! I'm trying to finish up so make sure you're here. I have a surprise waiting at the end. :3

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><p>Location: Shamar<p>

Year: 2014

_"Wake up! Wake up!"_ The little flicky peeped as he pecked at Sonic's head. Sonic opened his eyes halfway.

"Hey little buddy what's the big idea?" He asked as he rubbed his head. He looked around and noticed the train had stopped.

_"We're here,"_ the flicky peeped. _"The airport is only a few minutes away. You guys gotta get off!"_ Sonic looked at Amy and lightly shook her awake.

"Amy," He said. "We gotta go again. Wake up." Amy slightly moaned as she awoke. She sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"I fell asleep?" She asked as she yawned and stretched. "Sorry about that." Sonic helped her to her feet.

"It's no problem," He said with a small laugh. "Come on, we're going home." He looked at the light blue flicky and smiled. "Thank you for all your help." The flicky peeped and bowed its head, showing that it was no trouble at all.

The two hedgehogs then got off the box cart and started walking. Amy couldn't help but notice Sonic managed to walk without limping this time.

"Your ankle," Amy pointed out. "Doesn't it still hurt?" Sonic nodded.

"It still kinda hurts, but it's not as bad as it was before," He said. He looked over at her. "So...what do you plan to do when you get home?" Amy looked down.

"I don't know," she said. "What do I usually do?" Sonic smirked.

"Usually a big part of your day is looking for me and trying to spend time with me," He said with a chuckle. Amy looked at him confused.

"I don't recall that at all," she told him. Sonic rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Never mind." He took out a few rings and started counting them. He could only hope he had enough. Amy stared at the gold rings he held in his hand.

"Those rings," she began. "They look...familiar." Sonic looked up at her.

"Really?" He asked. "So you remember these?"

"Well...I feel like I've seen them before..." Sonic held them out to her. She continued to focus on them as she tried to recall where she remembers them from.

"Come on Amy," Sonic told her. "You can do it. Give me at least one memory. Where have you seen these?" Amy continued to stare before looking up at Sonic.

"Why are you talking to me like that?" She asked. "I said I felt like I've seen them before. That doesn't mean I have or know where." She continued to walk ahead. Sonic let out a deep sigh. He was completely defeated to her amnesia.

"Well it was worth a shot," He said to himself. He continued to count the rings as he walked by her side. Eventually they made it to a roadway and crossed to the building. They entered the lobby and Sonic put her to a halt.

"Listen, you stay here and I'll be right back with the tickets." He walked away and waited in line while looking at the rings in his hand. Saying that sentence only made a knot form in his stomach.

"If she doesn't remember me by the time we get home, I know for sure it'll be too late," He said. "I'll lose her and Chase for good, and then that would mean that I won't have a real future of my own." He stopped and took a deep breath. "Come on Sonic. Just relax. There's still some time left. Maybe she'll remember something along the way. You just gotta have patien-"

"Sir Do you need some assistance?" Asked the Ticketmaster. He stared at Sonic with concern.

"Uh yeah, um...two one way tickets to Station Square please," He said as he handed the rings over. The Ticketmaster handed him the tickets after counting the rings.

"You alright mister?" He asked. Sonic scratched his head and refused to look him in the eyes.

"Not really, but I'll be fine," He told him.

"This your first time?" He asked. Sonic looked at him.

"What?"

"I've seen this before," he began. "You're shaking up as time counts down. You're worried for your wellbeing. Worried that you won't make it. I mean I know the look."

"You can tell all that just by looking at me?" Sonic asked rather surprised. The guy nodded and let out a chuckle.

"Well of course," He said. "But there's no need to worry. Everything is going to be fine." Sonic started to smile.

"You really think so?"

"I know so!" The Ticketmaster laughed. "I've seen lots of you guys all anxious about being on an airplane for the first time, but you are gonna be fine. No worries!" Sonic groaned.

"It's not my first time on an airplane!" He turned around and stormed off. "Here I'm thinking he's talking about my luck with Amy and he thinks I'm afraid of being on a plane?! I'm Sonic the Hedgehog! I'm not afraid of heights! I'm not afraid of anything!" He took a deep breath and stopped when he saw Amy sitting patiently by the window.

"Anything...except for losing her..." He sighed and walked over to her. He took the empty seat next to her and sat down.

"Are you okay?" She asked. "You don't look very good." Sonic didn't bother to look at her.

"I'm fine Amy," he lied. "Our plane doesn't arrive for another few minutes. I'm just tired."

"You don't...seem very tired," She observed. "You seem rather...angry." Sonic stood up and put his hands over his face.

"I'm tired and...and frustrated...and...in pain and..." He groaned. "Just...I'll be right back. Don't move." He stormed off again. Amy held out a hand, but decided not to go after him. She knew he was only frustrated because of her, and trying to help him wouldn't make things better.

Sonic took out his final ring and inserted it into a pay phone and dialed Tails' number. "Come on buddy please pick up," he said. "I need you." The phone continued to ring, and after the fifth ring, it went to the answering machine. Sonic sighed and just hung up the phone. He leaned against the wall and looked up at the ceiling.

"Come on hero," He told himself. "Pull yourself together. You can look evil in the eye but can't handle a girl?!" He hit his head. "Stop doubting yourself! There's still time...you just gotta hang in there..." He began panting and put his hand on his chest.

"Jeez Sonic," He began. "What's gotten into you? Why do I feel so...hopeless and negative? This isn't you. What's the problem?" He started to sweat. "It's not like even by the time I get her home it'll be too late. I'm sure she has pictures of the both of us that'll help her remember. There's still hope. Ugh..." He sunk to the floor and put his hands on his head. "But why do you still feel so hopeless? This can't entirely be Amy can it?" He looked at her as she waited for him near the window.

"Aw man," He facepalmed. "I really messed up. I messed up and I'm too impatient to wait on fixing it. There's still a chance and that's what matters at this point." He stood up and made his way back over to the pink hedgehog.

"Hey..." Amy said as Sonic sat next to her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Amy," He said. "Look I'm just...beat up at the moment and need to relax. I'm sorry for being so tense. I don't mean to be."

"It's okay," She told him. "There's no need to apologize. We're gonna go home soon so I'm assuming everything is going to be fine. And don't worry about me either. Once we get there, I'll be out of your hair forever." She smiled, but that certainly didn't make Sonic feel any better.

"You...do know that isn't what I want right?" He asked her. "I still wanna see you and talk to you." Amy shook her head.

"It's probably best that we part ways once we get home Sonic," she said. "We can go back to what our lives used to be. I don't remember much of mine, but I get the chance to start a new one. I'm really grateful that you've helped me all this time."

"Amy I-...y-you don't understand I-"

"Maybe we'll cross paths again, just...maybe now wasn't the right time, and I'm willing to do what I think is best for the both of us and say goodbye." She put a hand over his. "Thank you for everything."

"Amy..." Sonic could almost feel himself ready to burst to tears, but before he could say anything, the announcement for the plane to Station Square filled the air.

"Is that our flight?" Amy asked. Sonic nodded and stood up. There was nothing left to say at this point. His only hope was to find photographs at her house and get her to remember him.

"Come on..." He led the way to the security check and boarded the plane with Amy. The plane was silent due to how early in the morning it was. Instead of making conversation, Sonic just closed his eyes and hoped to fall asleep to pass the time. It was clear to him now that words to do so weren't going to get him anywhere.

_"Face it Sonic,"_ He thought to himself. _"You blew it."_


	39. Chapter 39

So I saw I lost a follower, but that's okay. For those of you that are still reading, I want to take the moment to say thank you very much and I appreciate it. Just for reading, I have TWO special surprises waiting for you all at the end. :) So don't go anywhere because I PROMISE you guys are going to love it. ;)

Also, we're gonna be in 2014 for the rest of the story so I'm switching over to time zones now. I may also upload twice as many chapters because I'm trying to finish this before a certain date. Haha.

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><p>Location: Tails' Workshop<p>

Time: 8:40 PM

Tails had just finished repairing his workshop and the Tornado. The workshop was still rather empty due to the burglary, but Tails managed to force a smile.

"Maybe this is my chance to start anew," He said. "Think bigger and better ideas than what I used to have. Maybe this was a sign that maybe my life doesn't belong here in Station Square at all. I mean...there's more to life than building things. All I've ever done was make things with tools. I have never stopped and did something different." Tails went over to his computer and pulled up a map of the world.

"I still haven't achieved my dream of flying around the world either." He then cracked a smile. "Maybe this is the time to do that." He turned to the Tornado. "Hmm...But I don't think I can make it around the globe in the Tornado. I'll have to build something else to do the job."

Just then, a beeping noise went off on the monitor, interrupting Tails' thoughts. He immediately rushed to go click on the signal.

"Hello?" He said. "Sonic? Is that you?"

"Tails!" It was Sonic's voice. "Buddy are you there? I need your help!"

"What's the matter Sonic?!" Tails asked with worry. He noticed the signal from Sonic's call was located in Adabat. "What are you doing halfway across the world?"

"Long story," Sonic told him. "But I need your help! I'm stranded on an island near Adabat and I got this signal that a chaos emerald was here."

"How did you get stranded on an island in the first place?" Tails didn't seem too convinced of the call.

"I hitched a ride with Eggman and I ended up getting stuck here," He told him. "Now Eggman's gone and probably found the chaos emerald too."

"Let me see if I can gather anything on my radar." Tails pulled up a tracking device on the monitor to locate any unusual signals of energy. He was able to find it.

"No he still hasn't gotten it," He told him. Sonic let out a deep sigh.

"Thank goodness!" He exclaimed. "I must have been real lucky to have-"

"Have what?" Tails asked. "Sonic?"

"Y-Yeah buddy I'm here," He said. "I need you to come get me now." Tails scratched his head.

"Okay Sonic I'm on my way," He said. The call hung up before he could say anything else. Tails wasn't sure how to process what just happened. The call was really unusual and out of character for the blue hedgehog, but Tails didn't think much on the subject for long.

"Well, Sonic needs me," He said as he turned to the Tornado. "I just hope the Tornado is enough to get me all the way over there." He attached a communicator to his wrist and jumped aboard into the cockpit.

"Alright Sonic," he said as he started the plane. "I'm on my way. Hang on!" The door began to open up and once it did, Tails drove off and lifted the plane into the sky. He failed to notice the brown fox hiding near the workshop. Once he was out of sight, Hurricane quickly dashed into his plane.

"Well," He said. "I'm a pilot. Not an actor." He started the plane. "Better follow him before he finds out the call was a phony." He pulled up a radar on the screen. "I just hope I can interfere with his sensor without being noticed." He took off in the plane and located the Tornado on the radar.

"I need to be at least three miles away to keep the signal on his radar," He smiled. "Shouldn't be too hard. I did get pretty lucky that an emerald just so happened to be in the area." He sighed. "I shouldn't underestimate my dad like that anymore though. That was a close call."

Shadow had been looking off the cliff as he watched Hurricane's plane go out of sight. He had his arms crossed and looked up at the moon. He wasn't fond of continuous time travel, but he put it behind him mainly because of the lives at stake. He took a deep breath while looking in the direction the foxes were flying in.

"Good luck kid."

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><p>Location: Station Square<p>

Time: 1:04 AM

Sonic had been so overwhelmed with the events that occurred that he ended up taking a nap on the plane ride home. Amy leaned her head against the window as she began to doze off from complete boredom, but she felt the sudden popping in her ears and noticed the plane was getting closer to the ground.

"Attention everyone, we are now making our arrival at the Station Square Airport. The plane will be landing shortly. Please stay in your seats."

Amy looked outside the window and spotted the city only a few miles away. She was amazed at the beauty of the lights in the air.

"So this is Station Square," she said with awe. "It's so pretty." She looked at Sonic, whom was mumbling and starting to wake up.

"Ugh," He complained. "My ears. You'd think I'd be used to it." He yawned and stretched out his arms before turning to Amy. His eyes shot open when he saw the city. "What?! We're here already?!"

"You fell asleep the whole ride," Amy told him. "Believe it or not, it was actually kind of long." She rubbed her eyes. "Is home far away?" Sonic looked down at her hand on the armrest.

"Not by much," He said. He looked up at her. "It's late, but on the plus side," He felt the knot in his stomach again, "You're almost home." Amy smiled.

"Yeah. I can't wait to find out what it's like. Does anyone live with me?" She asked. Sonic shook his head.

"No," he said. "You're all by yourself." Amy shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, I get the chance to start life all over again, so maybe I'll meet someone." She looked at Sonic. "I wish us both luck for our futures." Sonic scratched the back of his head.

"Well...yeah..." He said. The plane had landed and everyone started heading off. He let Amy go first and followed behind her. "I'll need all the luck I can get." They went inside the airport and Sonic led the way to the exit. They were only a few miles away from Amy's house. It was do or die for him now.

"So how long is the ride there?" She asked. "Or are we walking?" That was when Sonic thought up an idea and turned to face her with a smile.

"Well actually," he began. "You won't need to worry about walking because," He scooped her up into his arms. "I am your ride home."

"Ah! Sonic! What are you doing?!" Asked the weirded out pink hedgehog. Sonic grinned.

"What I do best," He got into his running position. "Hang on tight!" He then sped off with her in the distance. His ankle was sore, but he fought against the pain with the hope Amy would find the rushing of the wind familiar. The pink hedgehog's face was expressed with fear, but the further Sonic ran, the more open she became to it, and eventually popped a smile.

Sonic could see her smiling in the corner of his eye, which was a good sign. He could also feel her holding on tighter than she did before, which instantly rose his adrenaline. Feeling good about himself, he ran faster and faster as Amy's smile began to turn into a burst of laughter. Her laughter was music to Sonic's ears, and he himself started to chuckle with her.

After a few minutes, Sonic came to a halt on the road and put her down. He panted as he watched the pink hedgehog jump with mere joy.

"That was so much fun!" She said with excitement. "They don't call you Sonic for nothing! That was incredible and just...wow!" She giggled. "What a rush!" Sonic chuckled, but as he spotted her house a few feet away, the knot in his stomach came back. They walked onward.

"So...you liked it didn't you?" He asked. Amy nodded.

"The wind in my face, it was amazing," she said. "How'd you learn to run so fast?" Sonic scratched his head.

"I was kinda born with it," He told her. They were nearing her house, and every second that went by made Sonic's chest hurt.

"So," he said. "Do you possibly remember ever going that fast?" Amy shook her head.

"Never. Nothing at all."

"Oh," Sonic looked away. "So much for that then." They walked up a small hill, only less than fifteen feet away from her house. "You know," he looked down. "This doesn't have to be goodbye ya know." Amy looked at him.

"But maybe it was best for the both of us," She told him. "Besides, I know how frustrated you are with me. I don't want to hold you back." They made it to the top of the hill and stood in front of Amy's house. Sonic gave up. Nothing he said or did helped him in the situation.

"Here it is Amy," He told her. "Your house." Amy looked around at the house and the lake. She smiled at the beauty.

"Wow. I picked a good one huh?" She spun around and giggled. "This place is amazing!" While she spun with joy, she noticed the depression on Sonic's face and walked over to him. "Thank you for bringing me here Sonic. That was really nice of you to do."

"Yeah," He said. "I'm just a good guy helping out I suppose." Amy smiled and shook his hand.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around then," she let go. "Thanks for everything." As she was about to turn around, Sonic grabbed her hand and made her face him.

"Amy..."

"Hm?"

He pulled her in for a hug. He couldn't hold back his tears any longer. He hugged her tight, much to Amy's surprise.

"Sonic?" She figured she'd hug him back. "Are you okay?" Sonic wiped his eyes and pulled away.

"No..." He sniffled a bit. "No it's not. Amy! I've done everything I possibly could at this point! I know you lost your memory and don't remember me, but I'm doing everything I can just to hear you say that one of them seems the slightest bit familiar!

Don't you see Amy?! It's me! Sonic! The only guy you've chased your whole life since the day we first met! I have saved you from Eggman many times when he put you in danger! Why?! Because I care about you! This whole trip home has been me trying to help you remember everything we have ever been through!" He put his hands on her shoulders.

"I get it okay?! It's my fault I never did anything to show you the same emotions you've given to me! I put you in danger when all my life I made it a vow not to ever do that to you! I AM SORRY! But PLEASE Amy, please open your heart and tell me you still feel something for me. Please. If you don't remember me fine, but tell me you at least felt something during the entire time we've been together..."

Amy was completely silent. She had no idea how to respond to him, and if anything, she worried more about her safety if he was letting out his frustration this way. After a few moments of silence, Sonic let out a deep sigh. He figured at this point he had nothing to lose.

"Well...fine then...I guess this is goodbye," He took her hands. "But I'm not leaving until I get this off my chest," He pulled her close to him and put a hand under her chin and slowly lifted it to his.

"Sonic?" Amy was blushing.

"Shhh..." He told her. "It's only fair." After a few seconds, he pressed his lips lightly onto hers and closed his eyes. Finally, after everything they've been through and the chase finally coming to an end, Sonic had at last kissed Amy. The kiss was passionate and soft, and there was no hiding the red in both of their cheeks.

About a minute later, he pulled away and looked down. He was still holding her hand. "I love you Amy..." He then let it go. "Goodbye." As he attempted to turn away, Amy grabbed his hand. "Sonic..." He turned to face her.

"Sonic...you just said you loved me..." Her eyes locked onto his as she was in shock of his words. "Y-you never told me that before...or ever kissed me..."

"So..." His eyes were still watery. "You remember that huh?"

"I remember...everything..." Her eyes were starting to water. "Well...most of it...but...all the times we ever talked, you never stood still long enough to tell me anything..." Sonic put a hand on her cheek to wipe away her falling tears.

"So you remember me now..." He said. Amy nodded and started to smile.

"I'm sorry I ever forgot my Sonicku...but you know...you really hurt me at Green Hill before..."

"I know I did," He told her. "And I'm sorry. My goal was to never hurt you. It was to keep you safe. I know my methods to that weren't so great but...I'm willing to slow down enough if it meant being with you and protecting you with every second that I'm with you. I'm sorry it took me this long to tell you."

"It's okay..." She smiled a bit. "I forgive you. I'm sorry I forgot all about you." Sonic started to laugh.

"It's okay..." He picked her up and spun her around. "I forgive you!" They both laughed and went in for another kiss. Each kiss grew longer and more passionate. When pulling away, Amy couldn't help but notice a long scratch going down Sonic's right arm.

"Sonic?" She asked with concern. "Doesn't that hurt?"

"Hm?" He looked at what she was pointing to and shook his arm. "Eh, probably got it on the way here or something. It's nothing." He looked back at her and smiled again. "But never mind that. Let's focus on now." He picked her up again and the two continued to laugh together. They eventually fell to the ground holding hands and gazed at the stars and talked about everything they've done together.

"Does this no longer make me your self-proclaimed girlfriend now?" Amy asked with a smile. Sonic let out a chuckle.

"No. Now I can say it with pride and joy that you are my girlfriend. So it's official. And this time, I promise not to be late for anymore dates." Amy giggled as she closed her eyes and took in the moment. It was a dream come true. Sonic was finally all hers.

As time went by, Sonic turned to face the pink hedgehog, only to figure out she had fallen asleep. He laughed to himself and scooped her into his arms and into the house. He laid her on her bed and pulled the blanket over her and smiled.

"Goodnight Amy. Sweet dreams." He moved her bangs out of the way and gave her a kiss on her forehead. He quietly left her room and closed the door. When he finally got outside, he leaped and screamed "Waahoo!" and sped off as fast as he could in the distance.

_"Finally, after all the time and pain used on trying, she finally got her memory back. What's better? I can finally say with no regret that I have myself a girlfriend. People can say that would hold me back, but as you can see, I'm still going. Being a free spirited hero isn't an excuse to not take the time to slow down and find joy in what I already have. I can be in a relationship and take on more adventures along the way, and this...happens to be one of them._

_I'm not getting any younger, and besides, that's only a greater excuse to slow down anyway. No worries. Just because that's my decision, that doesn't mean hero work is off duty. And I have proof. After all, by the experiences I've had, I'd say there's a great chance I'll have a family of heroes to stand with me against all the evil. The future's looking pretty good._

_Meh...but that's a few years from now. What's the rush?! What matters is here and now."_

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><p>THERE IT IS! Sonic and Amy are together! This puts an end to Sonic's saga, so now we will resume with our yellow flying fox. We're almost at the very end. :)<p>

**Reviews needed and appreciated!**


	40. Chapter 40

Thanks for the reviews everyone!

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><p>Location: Adabat<p>

Time: 6:00 AM

Tails had flown over numerous islands, which only meant he was nearing the town. He kept his eyes focused on both radars: the emerald radar and Sonic's communicator tracker. He didn't hesitate to call in on the blue hedgehog.

"Sonic?" He asked. "Are you there?" The other end was merely static and no response. He continued to check the radar. "Sonic, come in Sonic, are you okay? Over." Again, he continued to hear static. Tails thought for a moment before shaking his head.

"Well, his communicator is on the radar, so as long as I locate the communicator, I'll locate Sonic." He continued to pilot his plane while keeping an eye on the radars. As he grew closer to the target, he began lowering the plane.

"Now to make a smooth landing," he said, before realizing the fact he flew over many islands with barely any space to land. "Ah! I didn't think this through!" He exclaimed. "The Tornado only has wheels, but I'm surrounded by water!" He was nearing the surface of the water and struggled to pull up.

"Don't...don't...no don't do it!" The Tornado splashed through the water, but he was able to pull it up quick enough to not completely get wet. He smiled at his quick save, but it faded immediately when he crashed into a boardwalk and onto the beach. Tails groaned at the crash landing he made and sat up from the cockpit. He rubbed his head.

"Ugh..." He complained. "It's not my week is it?" He pushed a button to exit the Tornado. He saw that he broke a wing as well as the boardwalk. He sighed just thinking about what this was going to cost him.

"I guess the Tornado's gonna have to stay here then," He crossed his arms. "Since I'm looking for Sonic, I guess _he's_ going to be the one helping me fix all this damage."

"Blimey!" Yelled a female voice from behind him. He turned around to find an orange and brown raccoon running his way. "You busted up my boardwalk ya no good scallywag!"

"I-I'm sorry," Tails put his hands up out of fear. "I was going to crash into the water and I didn't have enough time to pull my plane upwards! I'll fix all the damages miss-"

"You're darn right cha' gonna fix it mate," The raccoon said angrily. "You're gonna build me a new boardwalk, and it better be better than that one or I'll pirate you outta all your money buddy!" The fact she was in Tails' face at this point easily irritated the yellow fox.

"Just take it easy," He said. "It was an accident." He walked over towards the broken wing in the sand. "This wouldn't have happened if my friend didn't take off and get lost on one of these islands searching for a chaos emerald."

"A what?" The raccoon asked. "What in Neptune's name is a chaos emerald?" Tails looked at her.

"A chaos emerald is a gem that holds an immense amount of power," He explained. "You can power anything with just one, but gather all seven and you can turn your thoughts into power and become invincible."

"Sounds like quite the treasure," The raccoon girl said. "What's your name matey?"

"My name is Miles Tails Prower, but you can call me Tails."

"Ah, interesting. My name is Marine the Raccoon. Or...Marine Raccoon...because my middle name isn't 'the'." She scratched her head and hesitated. "At least...I don't think it is. But I don't think my last name is Raccoon either." Tails glared at her.

"I get it," He told her. "No need to explain."

"Whatever!" She yelled. "The name's Marine! Just Marine!" She became distracted when she overheard a beeping sound coming from the Tornado. "What's that noise?"

"It's just my radar," Tails said, not bothering to look at her anymore. "I was using it to track Sonic and the chaos emerald." He didn't realize Marine was in the cockpit.

"So this thing can locate treasure?" She asked. "That's what this doohickey beepin' dot on the screen is?"

"Yes Marine," He said annoyed. He failed to notice Marine rummaging through the cockpit and pulling out the radar from the glove compartment.

"Well child of almighty Neptune's oceans I'm gonna find me that gem!" She hopped out of the cockpit. "Forget buildin' that crusty old boardwalk when that gem is gonna get me everything I need to fix up the S.S. Marine!"

"The what?" Tails asked. He noticed she had his radar and quickly got up. "Hey! Give that back to me!"

"Finders keepers mate," Marine said running off into the jungle. "You never shoulda crashed on my island!" Tails ran into the jungle following behind her.

"Marine stop it! Give it back!" He jumped over broken branches and plants. Marine only laughed as she ran ahead, but she came to a sudden stop when she neared a small cliff.

"Crikey, that was a close one..." She said, before the angry yellow fox bumped right into her. The two rolled down the hill until the ground was flat. Tails had accidentally fallen on top of her. Their eyes locked onto each other's for a brief moment before hearing a buzzing sound on the ground. Tails got off and looked to see what the source was. He was stunned when he noticed it was the radar.

"Oh no!" He exclaimed as he picked up the pieces. "My radar!" He looked up at Marine. "You broke it!"

"I didn't break it!" She yelled. "You're the one that crashed into me ya dumb half empty gully sack!" Tails stood up.

"That was my only chance of finding Sonic and the chaos emerald!" He yelled. "You ruined it!"

"I guess that makes us even then matey, since you're the one that crashed that tin can onto MY Island!" Tails turned around and stormed off. He didn't want anything to do with her at this point.

"Excuse me?!" She yelled over at him. "Aren't cha gonna help me up?" Tails stopped and looked at her.

"Help you up? You want me to help you after you stole my radar and broke it?" He asked. Marine shrugged.

"I mean if ya got any sense of manners then it'd be the manly thing to do," She said. Tails rolled his eyes and groaned as he made his way over to her. He pulled her up to her feet and looked around.

"Great. Now we're lost no thanks to you," He said glaring at the raccoon. "Any bright ideas now, or should I even trust you to help get me out of here?"

"Well we're both headed for the beach so I recommend we go this way!" Marine pointed right, but Tails didn't seem convinced.

"But we came from the other way," He said pointing left, but Marine shook her head.

"Nope. I'm sure it's this way."

"I'm sure you're incorrect."

Marine then looked him in the eyes while continuing to point right. "No," She said. "It's this way."

Tails stared right back at her. "No, it's left!" He yelled.

"Right!" Marine yelled back.

Tails then smiled. "Yes thank you!"

"No, not you right! Right as in this way!"

"Argh!" Tails threw his hands up in the air and turned around. "You're wasting my time! I'm just going to fly above and locate the beach from the air!" He was about to jump and fly off, but Marine grabbed him by one of his tails and forced him down onto the ground.

"You're not leavin' me here all alone in this jungle!" She yelled. Tails rubbed the tail she grabbed.

"Why'd you do that?!" He yelled. "That hurts!" Marine crossed her arms.

"Says the buffoon who crashed into me on a cliff and got us into this mess," She hissed.

"What?!" Tails stood up. "If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place!"

"Arguin's not gonna get us anywhere matey," Marine told him. "I suppose we're both at fault here, so the only thing we can do is just take a deep breath and stick together if we wanna get outta here alive." She held her hand out. "Truce?" Tails glared at her.

"Agh...fine," He shook her hand. "But don't try anything funny. I have my eye on you." Marine shrugged and looked around.

"Hmm...As long as we get out of the jungle, we will find our way onto the beach somehow. It's just locating the wreck is probably gonna take us some time." She looked at Tails. "You still able to fly mate?"

"You kinda strained my tail," Tails told her. "I don't think I can get pretty far." He thought for a moment before getting an idea. "You wouldn't by any chance know where your boat might be? The S.S. Marine is a boat am I right?" Marine nodded.

"She's a butte Miles," She said. "But unfortunately I can't sail her anywhere. I'm missin' the parts needed to fix up that ol' gal, but I don't think I'm ever gonna perfect bein' a mechanic."

"Well," Tails smiled. "I guess I could help you fix your boat and we can just sail around the island back to the wreck. Is it far from here?" Marine looked at him and shrugged.

"No clue," She said. "I can't figure out which way is where at this point. I don't wanna walk in circles in this jungle all night, so all I can really say is we both just keep going straight until we find that ocean." She then remembered something. "Oh, but what about your mate? Ain't cha gonna go look for him?"

"I can try but I can't find him unless I get this radar fixed," Tails told her. "If we can find my plane or your boat, at least I'll have the tools needed to fix this thing up and find him. Besides, he's used to sleeping outdoors anyway. I'm sure he'll be fine until tomorrow." He walked ahead. "Come on. We shouldn't keep standing here. The day's getting short."

"Right." Marine followed beside him as they walked straight ahead. Meanwhile, Hurricane flew over the island and looked down over the jungle.

"Well..." He shrugged. "They met. As long as they're together then my work here is done." He looked at the radar. "If my accusations are correct, Sonic should find out Tails has gone missing and come over here by his own plane. I just hope Tails fixes his radar in time." He thought for a moment. "Aww chunder. I guess I didn't think this one through because that's going to be one awkward meeting." He punched in the year 2029 on the keyboard and opened up a portal just a few feet away.

"Oh well, that sounds like their own problem. My job is done. To the future I go!" He pulled the gearshift and flew quickly into the closing portal, disappearing from the present and back to his own time.

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><p>I should probably note that Tails will not have as long as a part like Sonic and Knuckles because due to the Time Distortion Blaze was caught in, he and Marine never met, and it would be weird for them to fall in love after a day of meeting each other. I know there aren't many Tailsrine or Marails fans out there, and to be honest I never thought of the shipping until writing this fanfic, but I thought it would be interesting to see someone as smart as Tails end up falling for someone that isn't so intelligent all the time. <strong>Reviews appreciated!<strong>


	41. Chapter 41

I decided to just divide the parts instead of mashing together the chapters. I figured it's best to just upload it piece by piece than make the pages look so full and all over the place.

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><p>Location: Seaside Beach<p>

Time: 10:21 AM

Shadow took a walk along the beach before stopping to stare at the water. The Chaotix Detective Agency was only a few feet away, but instead of knocking on Espio's door, he became distracted by the turquoise, splashing waves of the ocean. He sighed as a lot of thoughts ran through his head.

"Maria," He said to himself. "She would have loved this." He watched as seagulls flew through the sky, before staring down at the water washing up more sand on the beach. He could see some of the seashells between the sand. He bent down to pick one up and examined it.

"Hmm," He turned the pink seashell over. "Hmph. Nothing amusing at all." He tossed it back into the water. He took a deep breath before looking up at the sky.

"If everyone's going about their own lives," He crossed his arms. "Then where exactly do I go from here? Nobody's getting any younger, and that means Sonic and his friends are going to end up having their own families sooner than I would have imagined. But what does the future mean for me? What do I do from here?"

"Well that's easy," Shadow turned and spotted Espio coming his way. "I'm surprised you actually came here. I thought you were going to disappear again. You do tend to do that very often."

"Hmph," Shadow smirked. "Well don't get used to it. I still gotta figure out where my destiny lies."

"You may not have the brightest of memories, but you're not blind either," Espio told him. "Because let's face it Shadow, it's just you and me now. We're going to define our own destinies."

"What about the Chaotix?" Shadow asked him. "Wasn't being a detective your dream? Why would you leave it behind?" Espio shook his head.

"I'm not," he told him. "But let's face it. We're not getting any real cases anytime soon. I might as well make the time useful and find something else to do."

"I see," Shadow looked back at the water. "But if you have plans to come with me, you have to be ready to leave it all behind. I haven't decided where I may be going, but I'm undecided in coming back. I feel like my job is done here."

"You can't leave forever Shadow," Espio said to him. "Look things may be quiet and peaceful around here without Eggman showing up, but since when was that ever a guarantee? For all we know he's hatching up another evil scheme."

"That may be, but if he is, his schemes won't last him long." Shadow looked over at him. "The doctor isn't getting any younger either."

"Well either way, don't leave us behind," Espio smiled at him. "We need you."

"Very reassuring," Shadow smiled. "But I think if I want to know my true destiny, I'm gonna have to get away from home."

"Well I hope you don't plan on going all by yourself," Espio said to him. "You got yourself a partner now, and anywhere you go, I'm going with you."

"Is that a fact?" Shadow asked as he crossed his arms. Espio nodded.

"Yeah," He said. "You didn't think I would let you leave just like that did you?"

"Hmph," Shadow smiled. "Not at all." He turned around and walked away. "I'm just hoping you got the feet to keep up with me." Espio smiled and followed behind him.

"I think I got this one," He told him. "Just hope your reflexes are quick, because I don't hold back from my stars."

"The loner and the ninja? Hmph, sounds like the title to some corny book." Shadow put his fist up to fist bump Espio. "Which is perfectly fine by me."

"Thanks," Espio fist bumped him, and without another second, they both put themselves to the test. Shadow raced him across the beach, and Espio tested him on his reflexes, and thus began the new journey as official partners.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Reviews appreciated! <strong>


	42. Chapter 42

More Tails on the way! :D

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><p>Location: Adabat<p>

Time: 5:07 PM

Tails and Marine were still wandering in the jungle, and by now the sky was getting darker. The stars became visible through the leaves and the wind got cooler.

"If the wind is getting this cool, then we must be near the ocean," Marine said. "You alright Miles?"

"Yes, but Marine," He let out a chuckle. "Just call me Tails." They moved some leaves out of their path and carelessly stepped on twigs. They stopped when they heard a noise. "Is that the wind?"

"Let's see," Marine sniffed a few times. "I smell the ocean." She listened to the noise. "And I believe I hear it nearby too. Miles I think we made it! Come on!" Marine dashed forward further out into the trees.

"Marine wait!" Tails ran after her. He soon caught up to her and found himself on the beach. "Hey you were right! We made it!"

"And just in time too mate," Marine told him. "If we stood in the jungle longer we could've had a rough night. Nobody wants to spend the night in there, especially in this habitat." She looked around.

"No sign of the plane," Tails said looking around. "Any sign of your boat?"

"If I'm correct, she should be about a mile this way," Marine said pointing to the right. "We should hurry."

"I wonder if I can fly now," Tails looked at his tails. "It still kinda hurts, but I think I can get us far enough that we won't have to walk." He leaped a few times and spun his tails. He was able to stay in the air. "Yeah," He smiled. "I might be able to get us far enough so we won't have to walk as much!" He looked at Marine. "Want a lift?"

"Well..." Marine scratched her head. "There's just one problem."

"What is it?"

"Well," Marine shrugged. "I never been flyin' before. Just sailin'." Tails smiled.

"There's nothing to be afraid of," He put out a hand. "I can't fly too high anyway, so if anything this might be a great baby step to the real thing. And you can trust me. I won't let you go."

"You promise?" Marine asked him. She had fear in her eyes, but Tails looked straight into her blue eyes and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Trust me," He told her. Being hesitant, Marine reached out her hand, but pulled it back a few times until finally Tails grabbed her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Ah!" Marine closed her eyes. "I change my mind!" Tails laughed.

"But Marine we're only a couple feet off the ground. You act like I'm taking you above the island." Tails held her tighter. "Hey, look at me." Marine opened an eye and looked up at him.

"You're okay," He told her. He then looked forward. "Here's what we're going to do. We're gonna get to your boat and I'm going to help you fix it up to be good as new. Then we're gonna sail it around the island until we find the Tornado and from there I'll fix it up and rebuild your boardwalk. Once I'm all done, I can repair the radar and I can find Sonic and the chaos emerald and get us out of here."

"What's the big whoop with that gem anyway?" Marine asked. "Do you have your whole life set on getting it or something? I mean I get it that it's almighty and everythin', but treasure isn't so easy to find as you make it out to be."

"Well you obviously don't know me," Tails told her. "I can build absolutely anything, and I was able to make a radar to track down emeralds for the first time. Sure without technology the chaos emeralds aren't easy to find, but as long as I'm around to build machines then they are easily traceable."

"Think you can build me one of them doohickeys to find treasure myself?" Marine asked. Tails hesitated.

"Well, I don't think I can make one to track down every source of gold or gems in the world, but I can easily throw together a metal detector to find hidden things underground if that's what you mean."

"Anything to find me some source of income!" Marine said with a smile. "Oh thank you mate! Thank you!"

They continued to fly ahead, and eventually Marine began to warm up to Tails. They talked about their lives and got to know each other more. Marine talked about her dream of being captain on her boat, and Tails explained how he met Sonic and his specialty with machinery. Eventually, they made it to the boat and by now were on their feet.

"Well mate, here she is, the S.S Marine." She sighed when she pointed out the damage. "And there's the wreck. I'm afraid I won't be able to fix her up until I can afford some parts for her."

"How did it get damaged in the first place?" Tails asked. Marine thought for a moment.

"To be honest now that I think about it, I may have sorta..." She blushed. "Erm...forgot to install them stoppers."

"You mean brakes?" Tails asked her. Marine nodded.

"Yup. Them things."

"Well," Tails put his hand out. "I suppose we should get started. May I see your toolbox?"

"Sure Miles," She said with a smile. "It's in my tiny shack over there, which now I'm thinkin'..."

"What?"

"I'm thinkin' we should tear off the scraps of metal from there and use it to fix this old gal." Marine looked at him. "Would it work?"

"It can," Tails told her. "But are you sure that's something you wanna do?"

"Aw to heck with it cobber!" Marine told him. "Once my ship is repaired then I'm off this petty island anyway. I've been here all by myself forever. No way am I gonna stay here another year. Nope." Tails chuckled.

"Well then Marine, let's get to work!"

Tails and Marine immediately jumped into work as they grabbed all of the tools from Marine's shack and tore the shack apart for scraps of metal. Tails built the brakes and passed them off to Marine. He showed her how to install them and even tuned up the other gears for her.

They then moved onto the damage, and both were greatly skilled that it didn't take them long to cover up the wreck. As Tails flew in the air and screwed in the parts to the boat, Marine hung from a wire and painted over the damage with navy blue paint. For giggles, she even flicked some paint onto Tails.

As Tails finished up the damages and Marine finished the painting, they both took some black paint and wrote, "S.S Marine" on each side of the boat. She also now had a logo of her own which consisted of a wheel of a ship with boomerangs for the rods. After all was said and done, they both took a step back and observed. The process took three hours.

"Wow," Marine said with awe. "She's...she's perfect..."

"And better than ever too," Tails added. "We gave her brakes, fixed the damages, and I even tuned up the rest of her controls too." He looked at her. "You like it?"

"I," Marine got teary eyed. "I love it." She grabbed Tails and pulled him in for a tight hug. "Thank you Miles! Thank you!"

"Marine," Tails chuckled. "It's no problem at all." He pulled away. "So, let's give her a test run huh? You up for it?"

"Am I ever!"

"Well come on!"

The two boarded the ship and Marine made a beeline to the wheel. Tails pulled up the anchor and signaled Marine that they were set to sail. Not wasting another second, Marine pulled the ship out to deep water, and the two were sailing around the island in the ocean.

"Crikey Miles you really out done yourself!" Marine said grinning. "She goes through water softly the same way my feet go through the beach sand!"

"I'm glad you like it Marine," Tails replied. "Just try not to forget anything important next time you build a ship. Try not to damage this one either."

"Are ya kiddin'?" Marine turned the wheel. "I'm gonna be extra careful with this gal. Ain't no way am I gonna let anythin' happen to her again." Tails looked down at the water. The ocean waves and splashing water were soothing to his ears.

"I can see why you love the water so much," Tails told her. "It's relaxing and so peaceful. I can just fall asleep right here."

"Well I don't think you'd wanna sleep there mate," Marine looked back at him. "If you fall asleep on that edge, odds are you're gonna fall overboard."

"Don't worry," Tails chuckled and walked over to her. "I'm not gonna fall asleep. I can't. I have to fix the Tornado and the radar so I can find Sonic and the emerald."

"Speakin' of which," Marine looked at him again. "I meant to ask ya, I mean, do you plan to get right to work as soon as we get there and just...leave?"

"I...well," Tails scratched his head. "I mean, Sonic's still out there. I don't want to leave him overnight. And besides, I have to go home sometime."

"Where ya live again?" Marine asked.

"Station Square," Tails told her. "It's a big city just east from here."

"I honestly don't wanna be here no more." Marine looked out at the ocean. "I mean, I've been on this island the day I was born. I don't remember much of anything just that I was always on my own. I found myself to be in love with the ocean, and one day I saw a huge cruise ship and I figured that maybe I could make somethin' like that and go out to sea. Become my own captain. Now that I have the skills, I can finally pursue my dream and travel around the world."

"I see," Tails smiled at her. "My dream is to fly around the world. Say, you should come to Station Square sometime and visit me."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," Marine said with a smile. She then looked at the wheel. "You know...I really appreciate you helping me with my boat. It's a dream come true."

"It was no problem Marine," Tails put a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to thank me. It was the least I could do after crash landing on your island and breaking that boardwalk."

"You don't need to worry about the crummy boardwalk anymore Miles," Marine said to him. "You fixed my boat, and that was the greatest payment to me ever. Now it's my turn to help you fix that plane of yours." She giggled. "Then we both can go around the world and maybe bump into each other again."

"Yeah!" Tails smiled. "That'd be great!"

After some time had passed, they eventually spotted the Tornado on the beach and were now headed towards it. After Marine hit the brakes and Tails dropped the anchor, they both hopped off board and walked towards the crash. Marine scratched her head just observing the damage.

"You remember how I was tellin' you how I'd help fix your airplane?" She asked.

"Yeah," Tails said examining the damages.

"Well," Marine twiddled her thumbs. "This may be a good time to tell you that I don't know a thing about aircraft mate."

"Ah no worries," Tails said with a smile. "It'll be just like how we fixed your boat. I'll put you in charge of covering up the damages, and I can fix whatever's damaged in the machine. All you gotta do is straighten out some metal and bolt it right back in when I'm done."

"I suppose," Marine shrugged and grabbed a hammer. "Shall we get started then?" Tails laughed and nodded and once again, the two went right to work. Tails focused on repairing the inside of the Tornado and Marine kept herself busy by fixing up the metal plates. There were a few times they both stared at each other without either of them knowing, and as they continued to open up to each other, their friendship began to grow bigger.

It meant a lot to the both of them. Tails finally had someone to talk machinery with, and Marine found someone with the same dream as her. While they may have their differences, they both could relate on many levels. Marine might have enjoyed their talks and time together more when she randomly started to giggle and caught Tails' attention.

"What's so funny Marine?" He asked. Marine looked at him and smiled.

"Aww nothin' mate," She said. "I'm just glad you crash landed here on my island. I haven't had this much fun in a long time. You're a good friend Miles." Tails could only smile at her.

"You too Marine," He watched her as she got back to work and quietly said to himself, "I'm glad we met."

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><p>I'm back everyone! Moving on! :)<p> 


	43. Chapter 43

Hey guys! Sorry I took so long, but I just had so much to do that took up my time, plus at first, I wasn't all that satisfied with this chapter. I'm also sorry for the whole "canceling the fanfic" thing, but I honestly didn't think I had an audience and figured writing over 200+ pages was a waste of time, but you guys proved me wrong and I wanted to take a second to thank you all for having faith in me and reading this. I really hope you guys enjoy the story and I'm excited to keep posting more. :)

Note for the followers, because I took the story down for a few days, I guess it ended up deleting all of your follows and favorites. Not that you have to, but **IF** you want to stay updated, you'd probably have to hit follow again. .-. Sorry. xD

Anyway, here's chapter 43. Sorry for the wait and trouble. ^^;;;

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><p>Location: Spagonia HQ<p>

Time: 8:45 PM

Mighty had Ray listen to the audio he caught, and Ray could feel chills running down his spine. He took off the headphones and turned to face Mighty.

"What in the world is that?" He asked. "That really freaks me out. It's all whispery and cold and...spoken with pure evil."

"Yeah tell me about it," Mighty said to him. "You still have those glass shards from Metal Sonic?" Ray nodded and walked over to the table. Metal Sonic's head was still separated from his body, but a majority of him was put back together. Ray showed him the pieces of glass he took out from the robot.

"So you think these have something to do with why Metal Sonic is being controlled?" Ray asked him. Mighty nodded.

"The audio says it itself," Mighty told him. "The shards have something to do with Metal Sonic. The plane suddenly fails, then we have that enormous amount of unidentified energy, then that voice, all while we took Metal Sonic with us. It's related somehow. It's got to be."

"What about the footage?" Ray asked. "Did you get anything?" Mighty shook his head.

"Not a single thing out of the ordinary," he then crossed his arms, "Which is something I was greatly disappointed about."

"Well there's no doubt about it now," Ray continued to assemble Metal Sonic. "We need to figure out whom that person was and where these shards are coming from and how to stop them from doing damage. Now we're dealing with another terrorist. If not, maybe a group of them for all we know."

"We'll start with him," Mighty said pointing at Metal Sonic. "He's the one responsible for the attacks in several cities. He had the shards inside of him, so whoever is behind his control, he's going to tell us." He looked at Ray. "Did you disassemble his weaponry? Is he unarmed?"

"Yup," Ray replied. "He's disarmed and unable to fly." He finally got Metal Sonic's head back on the body. "That should do it." He stepped away to observe the robot. "The code isn't scrolling anymore."

"Metal Sonic why were you terrorizing different cities?" Mighty did not hesitate to jump right into the questions.

"Unidentified subjects," He said as he scanned the red armadillo and yellow squirrel. "Voice verification not recognized."

"Who is your controller Metal Sonic?!" Mighty yelled. He then took a remote and showed him the pictures of the crime scenes. "You did this! Why?!" Metal Sonic stared at the pictures and tried processing them.

"Information not found in memory," He told them.

"We got this out of your memory!" Mighty looked him in the eyes. "I want to hear you admit to the all the trouble you've caused! Did you do this yes or no?!"

"Negative," Metal Sonic replied. "Last known location was Dr. Eggman's base December 13th, 2013 at 10:48 PM after battle with Sonic the Hedgehog. Last location remains unknown in a forest when I was reactivated."

"Then how do you explain these?" Mighty asked pointing at the pictures. He then picked up a shard from the pile on the table. "And what do you know about this? These were found inside of your body." Metal scanned the shard.

"Material unidentified."

"What do you mean?" Ray asked. "Is it glass? Some kind of rock?" Metal continued to scan the shard as his system attempted to identify the material.

"Results negative for identified elements. Material not found from Mobius."

"What?" Ray looked at Mighty. "Did you hear that? It's not a known element."

"Yeah I heard," Mighty crossed his arms. "Have the shards sent to HQ for further investigation. I want to hear what they have to say about it." He looked at Metal. "And don't let him out of your sight. He stays here until further notice."

"Gotcha Mighty." Mighty exited the room and went into the main room. Rouge, Bean, Bark, and Fang were waiting to hear what he had to say.

"So what do we do now? Any new assignments?" Rouge asked.

"Well," Mighty said with a sigh. "We can't do much with this case anymore, so the best thing to do at this point is to open up another assignment until HQ gets back to us with any information."

"So what about us?" Fang asked. "Are we still going to be on the field, or was this just some one and done type deal?" Mighty smirked.

"You boys just let me worry about that," Mighty replied. "I said I would help so that's what I'm going to do. I'm sure I can pull some strings to keep you guys on the team, however, I believe you guys have to pay a price of your own in order to stay in the agency."

"And what's that exactly?" Bark asked. "I think it's been made clear that we ain't exactly the richest of folks you ever met."

"I'd say off the top of my head you guys will either have to pay a stiff fine or serve time behind bars, perhaps both depending on how this goes," Mighty replied. Fang rolled his eyes.

"Yeah that's reassuring," Fang said with sarcasm. "That's exactly what we were trying to avoid before we took the jobs."

"Well if you wanted to avoid the consequences then you never should have committed those crimes," Mighty told him. "I will do my best to cut your time in half, but I cannot make any guarantees, especially since I put my own job on the line to do this." He sighed.

"Look boys," He began. "You guys showed me that there is good in you after all, and you guys proved that to me with your excellent work and participation in this case. I will do all in my power to get you guys back here if possible. I put faith in you, now I ask for yours in return."

"You're too nice sir," Bean told him. "It's shocking to know that someone like you would be willing to help us. Nobody would ever grant us this chance to redeem ourselves." Mighty smiled.

"Well, I told you I believe in second chances." Ray came out to the main room.

"Everything's been sent over," He said. "Now we wait."

"Good work," Mighty said as he fist-pounded Ray. He then looked at the others. "Good job to all of you. You really helped us out, and I'm sure the Professor would be pleased with your work."

"I'd say we all take a coffee break and move on to the next one," Rouge told them. Everyone nodded and agreed on the idea. Mighty chuckled and shrugged.

"Ah, why not?" He asked. "I'd say we earned it. Restaurant Swa anyone?"

"You had me at coffee," Fang replied, but stopped when he placed his hands on his sides. "Wait. I'm broke."

"Yeah same here," Bark added. "We robbed for the sake of having money. We can't afford coffee."

"We can't even afford FREE," Bean added. Mighty chuckled and put an arm around Bark and Fang as they walked towards the elevator.

"Ah don't worry boys," He told them. "I got it covered." He turned around. "Ray bring your wallet."

"Ugh really?" Ray groaned, much to Rouge's laughter. He rolled his eyes. "You know you'd think with all the money you make from this job that you can afford to buy your own coffee."

"As a matter of fact," Mighty grinned. "Guys, I'll get you all coffee. My treat on Ray!"

They all chuckled as Mighty promised everyone coffee and snacks while referencing Ray's wallet. Ray could only sigh and give them death stares, but eventually smiled and loosened up. He was not fond of having three crooks at first, but seeing how they instantly began to shape up, he began to enjoy having them around.

"Nowhere but up now," He said to himself with a smile. He then opened his wallet as his smile disappeared. "And nothing but emptiness here."

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><p>Meh. I tried. But we're moving on from here with Tails and Marine next so, please don't go anywhere. I am so sorry this chapter sucked. .-. But <strong>follows, favorites, and reviews are appreciated! <strong>


	44. Chapter 44

Thanks for reading guys! My views jumped quick yesterday. Hope you guys enjoy the rest of the story. I believe we are two chapters away from the ending! :3

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><p>Location: Adabat<p>

Time: 11:50 PM

"Alright, that should be good," Tails said as he brushed off his gloves. The Tornado was fixed up just as it was before. Marine walked over to him after painting the fixed wing.

"Alrighty mate," she said with a smile. "This should do it. Ya gotcha plane all repaired for flyin'. It's a good thing we fixed it just in time for you to save your friend huh?" Tails chuckled.

"Yeah it is," He thought for a moment before entering the cockpit. "Say...Marine?"

"Hmm?"

"You told me you've never flew in a plane before right?" He asked. Marine's cheeks slightly turned pink.

"Erm...no...why do ya ask?" Her cheeks turned brighter when Tails looked her in the eyes.

"Come with me and I'll show you," He said with a smile. "We can just fly around the island, nowhere far." Marine broke the gaze and turned away.

"Gee I don't know about that Miles," she said. "I could barely stand you flying with me ten feet off the ground." Tails smiled and rolled his eyes.

"You mean to tell me a girl like you is able to steer a large ship over the oceans toughest of waves, but she can't handle the back seat of an airplane?" He chuckled and motioned her to get in. "Come on. I know you're braver than that."

"Well..." She hesitated for a moment and groaned. "Oh fine ya darn sea clam. I'll do it. But if we crash and we die you're never going to hear the end of it, ya got that?!" Tails could only smile.

"Roger that Marine," he told her. "Buckle up your seat belt."

"My seat what?" She looked around and noticed the seat belt attached to the cushion. "What in Neptune's Ghost are these doohickeys for?"

"It's for your safety so you don't fly out of your seat in case something happens."

"I don't have one of these things on my ship," She told him. "We sailors laugh at your petty safety belts. We handle the waves like champs!"

"Right," Tails looked at her through the mirror. "But you forget to install brakes like noobs."

"Hey!"

Tails chuckled. "I'm just saying." He looked ahead. "Get ready Marine, I'm about to take off," Tails turned on the plane and began to drive it across the sand. Marine quickly put on her seat belt and covered her eyes.

"I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die...I'm gonna-"

"Well maybe if you opened your eyes and looked out the window you'd have a completely different outcome of that," Tails told her. Marine peeked through her fingers before looking down from the glass.

"Blimey..." She said in awe.

"I know...it's great isn't it?" Tails asked. Marine shook her head.

"No! I meant blimey as in blimey we're flyin' over the ocean and can crash any moment now!" Tails sighed as he listened to the paranoid raccoon.

"Marine...it's like you don't trust me," He said. "You wouldn't really think I'd crash the plane would you? Come on. I think I've earned a little more credit than that."

"Hmm...I guess so..." She noticed they were getting closer to the water. "Tails..."

"Just relax...watch." Tails slowly tipped the plane left, allowing for the wing to cut through the blue water. He slowly lifted the plane further up as he turned it around and flew right above the island. Marine watched as the ground began to shrink. She tried not to say anything, but Tails could hear her tiny whines from the back seat.

"Marine," Tails sighed. "Marine don't be afraid." He smiled and looked at her from the mirror. "I want to show you something pretty neat." He pushed a button that lightly transformed the plane.

"You're goin' so high, I'm almost convinced there's nothing left to show me but the clouds," she told him. "What else can you possibly-?"

"Look around," He told her. Marine looked to her left as she noticed white balls of light surrounding them. Her eyes grew wide as she realized they were flying right around the curve of Mobius.

"What in the..." She looked at Tails. "Are these what I think they are?" Tails chuckled.

"They're stars Marine," He told her. "These are the stars closest to the world. I wish I could take you further, but I'm afraid the Tornado's max durability could only get us right about here."

"They're...even more magnificent up close Miles," Marine couldn't help but stare. "I...guess I can see why you love flyin' so much. You get to see these beautes up close."

"Not to mention the wind, and just the mere feeling of being free," He looked back at her through the mirror. "This was a dream of mine when I was young. Being a pilot to me meant not having to listen to anyone or be afraid because, well, you can fly. Fly as far as you can and see the world. I mean, we're all born keeping our feet among the ground and living that lifestyle and all but flying," He sighed. "Flying to me was just another form of feeling alive. And to see the amazing sights of the world and, even above the world itself, I just had to work at my skills and become a pilot." He turned to look at her. "So...what do you think? Are you still afraid?" Marine smiled and shook her head.

"This is beautiful Miles," She said. "Thank you." Tails smiled back at her. He thought to himself for a moment before steering the plane back down to the island.

"Say, since you liked the stars so much, I have something for you that can remind you of our adventure," He told her. Marine's ears perked up as her eyes glowed with excitement.

"Really?" She clasped her hands. "What is it?" Tails chuckled.

"I'll give it to you just as soon as we land. I promise you're going to love it. I mean, it's no diamond or coin of gold like what you're used to, but to me, I think it's the best kind of treasure."

They were flying over the ocean again, and Marine couldn't help but grin at the natural beauty. The moon was reflecting upon the water, and Marine caught sight of two blue whales playing among the waves. She looked over at Tails and smiled.

"Thanks for doing this for me Miles," She told him. "This was definitely nothing for me to be afraid of. It's the most beautiful thing I could have ever imagined, and I've seen lots of pretty things." Tails smiled at her.

"I knew you'd like it," He told her. "Maybe we can do this again sometime. Maybe we'll bump into each other again when we're both touring the world. I can take you on another flying trip and I can join you for a cruise."

"That sounds great!" Marine told him. "Count me in on that plan cobber!"

"Alright," Tails smiled. "Looking forward to it."

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><p>Location: Tails's Workshop<p>

Time: 10:15 PM

"Yo Tails!" Sonic barged through the doors. "Wow you've really fixed up the place pal! Listen, I got some great news!" He looked around and noticed none of the lights were on. "Tails?" He hit the light switch.

"Buddy? You asleep?" He looked into the bedroom, but the bed was made and there was no sign of the yellow fox inside. "Hmm..." He walked further into the lab and flipped on another switch.

"Tails?" He asked. "Where are you?" There was no sign of the fox anywhere. Sonic could only scratch his head.

"I guess he's not here. He couldn't have been captured or anything. But then where would he be?" He put his hands on his hips as his eyes scanned the lab. "Looks like the workshop is all fixed and intact. He couldn't have gone off for more equipment could he?" He walked by the fox's computer, which he couldn't help but find it odd it had been left on.

"Tails wouldn't leave his computer running if he knew he wouldn't be back soon. Let's see here..." He started typing and pulled up the last login into the system. "According to this, Tails's last activity was around 8:41 last night." He continued to scan around the computer to look for a possible explanation, when something caught his eye. The wrist-watch communicator was missing.

"Tails took his communicator," He thought for a moment. "Well if he has it, that means I can track him. Now let's see..." A pop-up came on the screen and scanned for the communicator. It locked the exact location in coordinates to where it was.

"Adabat?" Sonic scratched his ear. "What's he doing there?" He noticed another tab had been opened and clicked to see what it was. "This is the emerald radar. That must mean Tails took off to find a chaos emerald. But why would he go alone? And why isn't he back yet?" He noticed a phone application running and opened it on the computer.

"Phone call from Sonic?" He asked. "I didn't call him at the time. My last call to him was at the airport." He groaned. "Something's not right here. Tails could be in trouble." He scanned the lab for a tracking device to take with him.

"I've gotta hurry and find him," He said as he repeatedly dug through drawers. He finally found the tracking device he was looking for. "He's been out there over a day now and hasn't come back. I gotta save him!" Sonic ran out of the workshop and made a beeline to an old shack just outside of Mystic Ruins. He unlocked a doorway, where inside stood a blue airplane with his name written on the side. He smiled.

"Been a while since I've seen you old buddy," He said, and jumped right into the cockpit. "Now, let's see if I still got it." He turned on the plane and took a deep breath before pushing on the petal and driving it out.

"Here it goes..." He was heading towards a cliff, and just as the plane was about to fall, he managed to pull it up in the air. He grinned at his achievement.

"Alright!" He said with pride. "Now to find Tails and get him home!" He placed the tracking device in front of him and flew the plane quicker in the air. "Adabat here I come!"

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><p>Thanks for reading guys! ^^ <strong>Reviews appreciated! <strong>


	45. Chapter 45

Thanks so much to **GHJKLOPIU** and **Sonamylover6822** for favoriting and following the fanfic! I know a lot more of you guys added the fanfic to your list, but Fanfiction deleted them so now there's only two people so far. .-.

Thanks so much for reading everyone. I hope you enjoyed the fanfic so far. :3

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><p>Location: Adabat<p>

Time: 12:45 AM

After the flight, Tails and Marine took a break on the beach. Marine had made them fish and chips while Tails fixed up his emerald tracker. They both continued to talk about flying and sailing, and even brought up the idea of one day opening a huge workshop somewhere where they could both work on their projects.

"A workshop of airplanes and ships?" Marine asked. She took a bite of one of her chips. "That sounds amazin'!" Tails chuckled as he repeatedly turned his screwdriver to lock in the screw on the radar.

"I'd definitely like to see that happen someday," He told her. He looked at her. "Hey! How cool would it be if our discoveries were in museums?"

"Oh that'd be gift for sure!" Marine clasped her hands. "I could hand off all of my findins and research on sea life-"

"And I could become an archaeologist and maybe discover more species unknown to science," Tails added. "Can you imagine what that would be like? We're both winners if we land jobs like those! We'd still travel the world and discover something new!"

"And think about all them sea creatures those smarties still haven't found," Marine added. She then gasped. "What if I found ol' Nessie?"

"Ol' Nessie?"

"The loch ness monster mate," Marine told him. She stood up and acted out the situation. "Picture me sailin' the S.S Marine durin' a storm, all the way in the middle of the ocean with possibly no return and POW! Nessie rises right out of the water and goes after my ship, but I take out my trusty sword and get the net ready and we battle through Neptune's field when suddenly, she throws herself onto my ship and breaks it into little bits and pieces, and just when you think it's all over for me, I grab hold of the net and wrap her face into it and we ride off to the shores of Adabat, where the crowd would cheer for me for not only findin' her, but taming her." Marine laughed. "I'd be a hero to mankind!"

"You have a wild imagination don't you?" Tails asked her. He shook his head. "No, but it would be cool if you did discover the loch ness monster. You would have solved one of the world's greatest mysteries based only on a legend that has existed for years. Nobody would ever hear the end of that."

"Yeah, it'd be cool mate." She sat back down on the sand and took another bite of a chip. "So, you got yer doohickey thing all repaired?"

"Just about," Tails replied. He turned the radar over and pushed the button on the side. The screen came on and the radar began to scan the area. "Great! It works!" The radar then began to beep when it detected a chaos emerald. "This is great! Now we can go find the chaos emerald and we'll find Sonic!"

"That reminds me," Marine stood up. "What was that thing you were talkin' about when we were flyin'?" She asked. "You said you had something you wanted to give me?"

"Oh yeah that's right." Tails stood up and walked over to the Tornado. He rummaged through the glove department until he found a small, blue and gold cardboard box. "Found it." He walked over to Marine.

"What is it?" She asked. Tails opened the box and smiled.

"I took this when I was up in space with Sonic before," He told her. He pulled out a small, glass vile attached to a thick brown string. Inside the vile contained dark colored dust like specimens.

"This is some actual star dust," He told her. "I was able to successfully get my hands on a few specs and brought them into my lab. After studying them, I placed them into this vile of water to remind me of my adventure in space/ and getting my hands on specimens of an actual star." He looked at Marine. "You enjoyed the stars so much; I want you to have it."

"For...for me?" Marine asked. Tails put the necklace over her head and nodded.

"This is something even more precious than gems and gold," He said. "Well, in my opinion that is."

"Wow Miles," Marine examined the vile. "I...I don't know how to thank you." Tails shook his head and smiled.

"No thanks necessary," He told her. "But I want you to promise me you won't give this to anyone. This is something very special. Not everyone can say they have a vile of stardust. Promise me you won't give it away?" Marine looked up at him.

"I promise," She said. "Strewth."

"Great!" Tails closed the box and looked back at her. "Now what do you say we board the Tornado 1 and find Sonic and that emerald?"

"Sure thing mate!"

The two jumped right back into the Tornado 1 and fastened their seat belts. They took off and flew around the island and surrounding islands until they neared the location of the emerald. After a few hours of looking in the jungle on foot, Tails couldn't help but notice something was wrong.

"You sure your tracker thing is workin right mate?" Marine asked. "If the emerald was here then why is it taking so long to get to it?"

"Because I think Sonic has it," Tails told her. "According to the radar, the emerald is traveling at a different direction. The only way for the emerald to move is if someone picked it up and took it." He looked at Marine. "We have to follow that emerald and fast. I'm gonna see if I can communicate with Sonic again. Come on!" The two ran to the Tornado and Tails put on his headset.

"Sonic? Can you hear me? Are you there?" Tails waited for a response, but all that was on the other side of the call was complete static. "Sonic. This is Tails. Can you hear me? Over." The end was still static. Tails ended the call and went after the emerald. "There's no answer. We gotta get to that emerald."

"You think he's alright mate?" Marine asked with worry.

"I don't know, but we're about to find out," Tails flipped a switch on the control board. "Buckle up Marine, we're about to transform into battle armor mode."

"Battle what?!"

The Tornado transformed, now having four wings instead of two, and slots with missiles prepared for shooting. Tails shot through the sky as he followed the direction the emerald was going.

Sonic was nearing the islands of Adabat. He checked for a communicator signal off the tracker.

"Tails is close by," He said. "His signal is just south from here." He turned the plane and noticed the signal was moving.

"Hmm...If I didn't know better I'd say he's already moving." He zoomed in on the signal. "If that is him. I'm about to find out." He looked forward again and flew the plane faster. "If I can just land on the island where it crosses over I can easily catch him." After a few minutes of flying, Sonic noticed a decent place to land the plane. He left the plane on and kept his eye on the tracker.

"In about a couple seconds the signal should pass here," He said. He kept his hands on the wheel. "I'm ready for it."

"It looks like it stopped," Tails pointed out from above. "The emerald is down below. Get ready Marine we're about to land again. I want you to be careful and keep your head low just in case."

"I think I'm getting air sick!" She complained. Tails lowered the plane and landed on the beach. "We're getting close!"

"It's getting close..." Sonic said as he waited. He then realized through the sand that the signal came from the Tails's Tornado. He grinned and chuckled. "Ha! Just like the Tails I know!" He waved at him.

"Hey! It's Sonic!" Tails said with a smile. He stopped the plane and jumped off. "Sonic! I found you!" He ran towards him and gave him a bro-hug.

"Naw I found you first buddy," Sonic told him. He then crossed his arms. "And what exactly do you have to say for yourself for running off like that?"

"Huh?" Tails scratched his head. "What do you mean?"

"You were gone over a day pal," Sonic told him. "I went to your workshop and you weren't there."

"My workshop?" Tails looked confused. "You were the one that called me because you and Eggman were fighting over the chaos emerald. You told me to meet you here!"

"What?" Sonic put his hands on his hips. "I did no such thing. I kicked that Eggs Benedict Arnold's butt a short time ago!" He chuckled. "Aw I wish you could have seen it. It was cool."

"I'm confused," Tails said to him. "If you didn't call me then who did?" Sonic shrugged.

"Got me buddy," He told him. "But the important thing is that you're okay. And we got this!" Sonic took out a blue chaos emerald.

"The chaos emerald! You found it!"

"Yeah," Sonic told him. "Also took an old pal of mine too. Check it out buddy!" Sonic pointed behind him to the plane he flew. Tails's eyes glowed with excitement.

"The Original Tornado!" He ran over to it and examined the wings. "You mean you flew in the Tornado this far to come find me?"

"Of course pal!" Sonic told him. "I'd risk anything to make sure you're okay. I'm impressed she made it this far."

"No kidding." Tails looked at him. "I'd love to work on it at the workshop when we go home."

"No problem buddy," Sonic told him. He motioned him to board the plane. "Let's get going!"

"Erm...hang on..."

"Hmm?" Sonic looked back at him. "What's the matter?" He noticed Tails ran back over to his Tornado. "Tails is everything okay?"

"Come on," Tails whispered to Marine. "I want you to meet my friend."

"Tails?" Sonic noticed Tails helping a female raccoon out of the plane. He smiled and walked over to them.

"Hey!" He said as he held out his hand. Marine slightly blushed and shook his hand.

"Sonic, this is my new friend Marine," said Tails. "Marine, this is Sonic."

"It's nice to meet you Marine," Sonic told her. He stopped for a moment and scratched his head. "Somehow, it's almost like I've seen you before."

"Same here," Marine told him. "I felt that way when I saw Miles the first time, but there would be no way we met before."

"Yeah, that'd be weird," Sonic said with a laugh. He looked at Tails and then back at Marine. "So I assume you took care of my pal here huh?"

"Well we both helped each other out," Marine told him. "The meetin' wasn't so pleasant at first, but," She looked at Tails and crossed her arms. "We worked out the kinks."

"Say that's great!" Sonic said with a smile. "So are you coming with us?"

"Well..." Marine hesitated and shook her head. "No. After Miles helped me fix my ship, I'm settin' sail to travel the world now."

"But we did agree if we ran into each other again that we'd hang out sometime," Tails added. "We made lots of plans Sonic!"

"I see," Sonic told him. He looked back at Marine. "Well if you're ever in town or near Station Square, don't hesitate to come visit. We'd love to have you meet the others and come join us for huge picnic or party right?"

"Yeah!" Tails added.

"That sounds great!" Marine said with a smile. "I look forward to it!"

"Great." Sonic looked at Tails and nudged him on the arm. "I'm gonna board the Tornado and I'll follow you home when you're ready." He turned to Marine and shook her hand again. "It was nice meeting you Marine!"

"You too Sonic," She said. When Sonic walked away, her smile slowly disappeared as she looked down at her feet. "So I...guess you better get goin' mate."

"Hey," Tails lifted her chin so he could look her in the eyes. "Don't be sad. We're gonna see each other again."

"How long will that be?" Marine asked. Tails hesitated.

"I wish I had an answer to that," He told her. He then put out his pinky. "But I can definitely say we will meet again soon. I promise." Marine looked down at his hand and locked her pinky with his.

"Pinky promise to you too," She told him. "Thank you for everything."

"Thank you too Marine," He told her. He turned around and walked away. Marine scratched her head.

"Hmm? For what Miles?" Tails looked back at her.

"For being a great friend and giving me another day worth remembering," He told her. Marine's cheeks turned pink, which Tails chuckled at before waving to her. "See ya later Marine." Marine smiled.

"Goodbye..." She giggled. "Tails."

Marine watched as Sonic and Tails started their planes and took off. She waved and watched them until they were finally out of sight. Tails smiled while looking down at her, before hearing Sonic on the mic.

"Your girlfriend is pretty nice," He teased. "Good thing I went after you. I would've felt bad if I missed this kind of occasion."

"Aw what are you talking about?" Tails asked with a laugh. "She's not my girlfriend."

"Whatever you say pal," The blue hedgehog replied. "I can definitely see a connection between you two. It's clear as day."

"You mean like your connection to Amy?" Tails teased back. "If I'll see the day when you finally did something about it."

"Actually you just missed it," Sonic told him. "I'm proud to say we made it official. So your comeback is officially wrong."

"Well I'm happy for you Sonic," said the yellow fox. "How's it feel?"

"Eh no different really. I'm still the same guy, just...in a relationship." Tails looked to his right at Sonic, whom was flying just a few inches away from him. Sonic chuckled.

"What? You didn't think things were going to change that easy did you?" He flew his plane further ahead. "Race ya back home!"

"Oh yeah?" Tails pushed his gear shift up and sped ahead to catch up to Sonic. "This isn't the ground Sonic! We're in the sky! You're in my territory now!" The two laughed as they raced each other in their airplanes. Sonic chuckled as he watched the yellow fox fly ahead of him.

"Oh yeah," He said. "Nothing gets better than this."

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><p>Thanks for reading guys! And guess what?<p>

**Chapter 46 is the ENDING! The ending will be uploaded this Friday! Reviews Appreciated! :D**


	46. Chapter 46

Thank you to **GoldenBullet** for following and leaving me that review. I literally got teary eyed reading it. I'm so glad you like the story! :)

Everyone else, this is it! This is the End! I know some of you might think a lot of this is out of character, but you guys somehow made it to this page with events that were out of character in previous chapters so this should have been expected. :P I hope you guys enjoy it!

_(~Story inspired by "Satelite" by Rise Against~)_

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><p>Location: Angel Island<p>

Year: 2015

"Well," Sonic smiled as he fixed his black jacket and white bow tie. "I guess from here it kinda does get better!"

Everyone gathered around the Master Emerald Shrine. Sonic and his friends were standing to the left of a split aisle, as the Knuckles Clan and the Nocturne Clan stood together on the right.

Knuckles stood holding hands with Tikal, whom was dressed in a white dress with gold rings on each of her dreadlocks. Chao were gathered around the emerald, and summoned Chaos from the Shrine to stand beside the priest.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" He announced. "With pride and joy, I pronounce these two husband and wife, but before we all get too excited," He turned to Chaos. "Here is Chaos to crown them as your new King and Queen of Angel Island!" Shade handed Chaos a red velvet pillow with two gold crowns lying on top. Chaos placed a gold crown on Knuckles's head, and the second on Tikal's.

"I present to you, King Knuckles, and his lady, Queen Tikal, rulers of Angel Island!"

Everyone cheered and clapped for the married couple, and Knuckles raised his and Tikal's hand with pride and excitement. The chao began to sing with pure joy, and they dropped pink flower petals from above.

"Congratulations Knuckles!" Sonic yelled. "You're officially a sucker!" Amy nudged the blue hedgehog's arm.

"Sonic! Jeez it's their wedding day! Can't you be nice?" She asked. Sonic put an arm around her.

"Aw come on Ames, I gotta have a little fun. Besides, now that he's a King we won't see him all the time. Gotta make the most of it." Knuckles walked over to him and gave him a fist bump.

"You know, now that I'm King I have the right to execute you for saying that," He said. Sonic chuckled.

"Yeah, but I know you won't. Come here!" He hugged the royal echidna. "Congrats." Tails and the others surrounded the couple and congratulated them.

"I'm happy for you Knuckles," Tails told him. "I hope we can still hang out like old times whenever you can spare the day."

"Congrats Knucklehead!" Rouge said with her arms crossed. "I hope she knows how to put up with that attitude of yours."

"I can say the same for any guy you meet Rouge," He told her. Mighty and Ray managed to squeeze themselves into the crowd.

"Actually she surprisingly has," Mighty said. He bro-hugged Knuckles. "Been a while buddy!"

"Mighty! Ray! No way! I can't believe you guys made it!" He hugged them both.

"We wouldn't miss this for the world!" Ray told him. He then noticed his wrist watch blinking. "Aww darn. Mighty? I guess they need us back at HQ. What do you think?"

"Uh..." He smiled. "What's the rush? We got some time to spare. Besides," He hugged Tikal. "How often is it that we'd see the new Mrs. Knuckles again huh? Congrats Miss!"

"Thank you very much," Tikal replied. Tikal was lightly being pulled by Amy and Cream. She giggled and looked to Knuckles. "I will be over here then love. I must be sure I thank all the girls for coming before we start the toasts."

"Alright," He told her. "I'll see you in a bit." After giving her a light kiss on the cheek, he turned and noticed the Chaotix making their way over to him. "Hey guys, thanks for coming!"

"Congrats," Espio said to him as he shook his hand. "So, how does it feel to be royalty?"

"Well it's too soon to tell," Knuckles replied. "I'll find out in the morning that's for sure."

"This was a great occasion for you guys to come out on!" Vector said to Mighty and Ray. "We all gotta catch up! It's been too long!"

"Agreed!" Mighty said with a smile.

After hearing congratulation wishes from everyone, Knuckles noticed Shadow standing away from the crowd. He didn't hesitate to go over to him.

"Shadow?" He asked. Shadow looked at him.

"Hey," He said. He held out his hand. "Congrats on the marriage. Never thought I'd see you become royalty."

"Thanks," Knuckles told him as he shook his hand. "What are you doing all by yourself over here? Come join the rest of the crowd. We're just about to celebrate."

"Thank you for the hospitality," Shadow told him. "But I'm afraid I have to cut my time short."

"You're leaving?"

"Yeah." Shadow fixed his gloves. "I have some things I need to take care of. I hope you understand."

"Nah, it's cool," Knuckles said. "Thanks for coming. I-" He let out a small chuckle. "I hope we can maybe see each other again soon. I mean, being a King and all, I have responsibilities I need to take care of."

"Understood," Shadow replied. "Can't say I won't miss the old days either. Nevertheless, this is where you belong. You were meant for this, and as long as you're living up to your destiny, who am I to take you away from it?" He smiled and crossed his arms. "But I'm sure we will meet again soon."

"Thanks Shadow," Knuckles said with a smile. "That actually means a lot coming from you. I wish you well on whatever you end up doing."

"Hmph, my same wishes to you." He shook his hand again. "I'll see you later. Don't know when but, definitely later."

"See ya Shadow." After a final wave, Knuckles turned around and walked back over to the crowd. Shadow observed everyone from the distance, cracking a smile at the overwhelming happiness coming from them all.

_**Shadow:**_ "So, I suppose you all are wondering what this meant for the others. Obviously, Knuckles and Tikal's long lasting relationship resulted in a happy marriage, and even crowns to rule the newly developed Angel Island.

Shade then became the new Guardian of the Master Emerald until an heir is produced by the King and Queen, but she still has a role in combat whenever her help is requested.

Sonic, well, Sonic is still the same as ever. I catch him every once in a while. Sometimes we race to see who is the fastest. Still no real answer to that by the way, but next time can be different. He now takes Amy along with him on his runs, though sometimes he pushes her just a little too far. Still, I've never seen him happier. Although, I noticed a slight change in his hue into a darker blue, and some scratches on his arms. He tells me he doesn't know where it's coming from.

Tails took off in his newly created Tornado 5.0, and made plans to travel around the world and discover new sights and things unknown to science. From the last meeting with Hurricane, I can guarantee you he bumped into Marine again. Whether they started dating or not, I guess we'd have to wait and find out when he returns home.

Vector finally asked Vanilla out on a date. I even noticed them holding hands at the wedding while Knuckles and Tikal said their vows. As for Cream and Charmy, they still maintain their relationship. And Cheese, just after the toasts, he transformed into a Hero Chao.

Espio decided to take his skills in combat to the next level, and is currently practicing how to become a true samurai.

I bet you wondered what happened to the Babylon Rogues after we sent their future selves to jail. Well turns out, they agreed to supply their knowledge in technology to Angel Island, which led to a partnership between Angel Island and Babylon Garden as allies. Now they can enjoy the pleasures of money legally.

Eggman has been quiet since our last battle. I want to say I believe he finally retired, but who's to say that would be a fact? He always has a way of surprising us.

Mighty and Rouge started dating, though a majority of their dates are taking out bad guys on their missions, since they really don't have time to go to dinner every week. I heard Bean, Bark, and Fang had to do some time in jail, but Mighty somehow convinced the judge to cut their time in half, and even told the boys he would help cover fees.

I also heard that material they found inside Metal Sonic returned from HQ as "unknown". The case continues to remain open, but it has gone cold until the MCIA can figure out where that material came from and what caused that energy that shut down their airplane.

So, I guess you guys want to know what happened with me. My destiny? Well, that's for me decide, and I will continue onward on my path to fulfill it. Turns out, I didn't need people to come back in time to tell me I messed up or to help me get back on the path to my fate, because as I walk and appear before you, I'm the one writing my steps to get there. I determine my own destiny."

_**THE END**_

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><p><strong>*Hang on! You're not done!*: <strong>

**Side Note: **You didn't think this was _really_ the end of the story did you? Well SURPRISE! Since you guys gave me such wonderful feedback and followed my fanfic, I provided you with a super special teaser to the **SEQUEL ARC: _My Shadowed Destiny !_**

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><p><span><strong><em>Teaser:<em>** **My Shadowed Destiny**

"My name is Shadow the Hedgehog. I was created by Professor Gerald Robotnik, designed to aid a dying girl named Maria. I was part of a project by the doctor for manmade organisms to provide care to humans in need, and while the idea sounds harmless, humans from Earth failed to think so. I wasn't around long enough then to realize the cruelties we were meant to face in life, and that was the moment where I was forced to learn it the hard way. The humans arrived to the Ark, arresting the Professor and trying to cease me and Maria. I kept to my job that I would protect her at all costs, but she saw it different and locked me into a capsule. Just before I could take any action, I watched a soldier shoot her, and a second later, I was sent to Earth.

With all my mistakes in the past, I made the choice to keep to her promise of protecting people in the world, though at first I wasn't truly satisfied of the idea after the events that took place. I met some protectors of the world of my very own, and while our first few meetings went sour, we eventually became a team.

Our last meeting together was a final battle between us and Dr. Eggman, and after defeating the Eggman Emperor and the doctor himself, everyone was finally at peace, the way it should be.

That was, until I received word by the Queen about an evil presence hiding in the world. She told me it was her belief that the force never existed in time, and somehow it was brought back into the timeline and sought out nothing but chaos and destruction. Heeding to her plead for my help, I now seek out to put an end to that evil.

This is no battle like the ones before. I hold the world entirely in my hands now while time counts down the seconds remaining until that evil is unleashed. This was the moment where I realized my true destiny, and to prove to people just exactly what I've been telling them for a long time.

This time, it is not a factor of who I am that would save these people, but it's what I am, that will leave them remembering. What am I?

I AM THE ULTIMATE.

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><p><strong>Thank you all so much for reading! It really means a lot to me that you guys took the time to read my story. I know some of you may not have liked the way I developed this out, but I wanted a take on the series that was a little more personal and dark on some levels, and so I created this!<strong>

**Any questions you guys have, I will be on DeviantArt in the chatroom "/IHWLiveChat" tonight at 9:00 PM for answers and maybe drop some hints to you guys on the sequel fanfic "My Shadowed Destiny". ;) I will provide a link to the chatroom on my FanFiction Profile. :)**

**Thanks again for reading!**

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><p><em>~(SIDE INFORMATION)~<em>

_**I DO NOT OWN SONIC THE HEDGEHOG. SONIC BELONGS TO SEGA.**_

_**Chase the Hedgehog, Phoenix the Echidna, Hurricane Prower, and Honey the Bunnybee belong to AMYNIC. **_


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